Two sides of one
by DraXXter
Summary: What would happen if Minaka's plan also needed one test ashikabi? Please R
1. Chapter 1

My only claim to fame is my twisted mind which came up with this scenario. This means that I do not own Sekirei or anything that is related to it. For this I am sad.

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"Speaking"

"_Thoughts_"

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"MINAKA!" came a shout of anger from behind the grand double doors that led to the inner sanctum of Minaka Hiroto, the president of M.B.I. He turned his head towards the doors from the cityscape of Tokyo, making the cold fluorescent lights glare from his glasses. The doors opened with a slam and inside his office strode a woman with unruly gray hair and a blue business suit that had seen better days with a coffee stained lab coat pulled over it. The gray eyes of the woman were now shining with anger he had not seen on the woman in a while.

"Ah Takami-kun! To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?" Minaka said while fixing the collar of his white cape and grinned at the woman, which made her anger rise.

"You know damn well Minaka!" Takami Sahashi shouted at the man and slammed her fist with a satisfying thwack to his temple, dropping him cleanly from his chair. The man sprung up with surprising agility for a man of his age and kept a steady gap between him and the woman.

"I must confess Takami, I really don't know what I've done to earn your ire today." Minaka said with a light tone and smirked at the growing annoyance of the woman. Takami took a cigarette from her pack she kept in her coat's pocket and decided it was much faster to humor the man.

"I'm talking about this you bastard!" Takami growled and threw a folder on the desk. Minaka glanced at the folder and saw it was the results from his recent scanning of schools.

"You have no right to pull MY children to this insane plan of yours!" She said loudly and gripped Minaka by the lapels of his white suit and shaked the man.

"Furthermore, you have no right to meddle in their lives since it was you who decided to have no interest in them so far." Takami said and let go of Minaka's jacket and lit her cigarette. She opened the folder on the desk and looked at it with sadness. In the folder was a photo of a 12 year old boy with messy black hair and grey eyes, smiling an innocent smile. The folder had his name (Minato Sahashi) and his relevant info, age, gender, hobbies and likes/dislikes. A bit further down was a bit of his medical history and odd-looking graph. The graph was divided among the titles growth, compatibility and time.

"Oh that, you must be proud Takami!" Minaka said with his grin widening and with an obvious glee.

"Minato has been chosen to be a part of the grand plan that the gods themselves has given us! And we must not spit in the face of fate" Minaka continued and started smiling. He took the folder from the desk and quickly read through it even though he knew what was on it. After all it had been his marvelous idea to screen the schools of Japan for possible applicants. Even he, who had been graced by the fate hadn't known how good of an applicant Minato would or could be and had only toyed with the idea of making him a part of his plan but this folder and the results it had. It had changed everything, and once he had decided that Minato would be in the program, there was nobody who could stop him. Not even the boy's mother.

"Cut the crap Minaka!" Takami said and slammed the folder from the man's hands making Minaka give the woman a hard glare.

"I'm telling you now to leave Minato off of this. Surely there are others who would be just as good." Takami said with a pleading voice, she had seen the look on Minaka's face and had known then that straight confrontation with him wouldn't work, not this time and not on this.

"This is no crap, as you eloquently put it Takami." Minaka said and picked up the folder from the floor.

"This is the dawning of a new age, a new look on life and Minato will be a part of it whether you like it or not." He continued and strode back to his chair and sat down. Takami followed the man while taking puffs from her smoke and dropping ashes on the floor.

"Besides, you still have one child left don't you? Isn't Yukari also living with your grandmother?" Minaka said with a dark glare and even darker grin. Takami's face paled as she recognized the veiled threat for what it was. Either she should give Minato to Minaka or she would lose both of her children. All the anger was deflated with that simple sentence and she let her shoulders slouch in defeat.

"Will...Will I be able to see Minato while he is in this program of yours?" Takami asked as she threw her cigarette out on the balcony of the office and lit a new one. Minaka chuckled at the sound of defeat from her voice.

"But of course Takami-kun." He replied and walked next to her.

"I'll even let him live with you for the time being." He continued and patted the woman on her shoulder, making the woman glare at him with disgust. "_To think I used to care for this monster._" She thought and nodded to him.

"Do you think I'm a monster who would keep children away from their mothers Takami-kun?" Minaka asked with the same manical grin he always wore, not expecting an answer from the woman.

"When?" Takami asked and took a puff from her smoke. She walked next to the table and picked the folder up, trying to see what was to become of her son and what she could possibly spare him of.

"No later than a week, after that it would be too late and the training wouldn't be finished on time" Minaka said while walking back to his desk. He sat down and opened the computer and watched the same file from his computer that Takami was now browsing through and added a few extra  
"courses" to the training that weren't on the folder.

"Don't worry Takami-kun. You get to say goodbye to your darling boy, since you'll be the one to bring him here." Minaka smirked and continued. Takami choked on the words, she hadn't expected to be the one who would actually deliver her son to the den of the devil herself.

"Wouldn't it be the best? You'll get to spend time while traveling and tell him what is expected of him and what he will become." Minaka continued when he saw Takami frown at the idea. Takami agreed to the man's plan as she had no way out of it.

"I still think you're an asshole and I hate you for it" She said and started to walk slowly out of the office of the resident madman, not eager for leaving the office as it meant that she would need to return with Minato. By the time she reached the elevator that was the only entrance to the top levels of M.B.I tower, she was already talking in her cellphone with the manager of the company's employee benefits and had gotten herself a car for a week. When that was sorted out, she went on to call personnel management and called in her sick days, holidays and what ever she could think of to get a week off from working.

After the talks was finished and the elevator arrived, she stepped in and pressed the button that led her to the 75th floor which was her apartment/laboratory at the same time. After packing and checking her computer, she went to the car park that was situated on the first basement level to get the car and had started her long drive home. Minaka watched her leave with the black sedan and was already making mental notes on the training file of one Minato Sahashi. Adding a few suggestive therapy sessions and gene modifications. When he the car was lost in the traffic of the big city, he went to write them down on the file in the computer that would tell the people working on the project that Minato would be receiving treatments every 4 days and Minaka was certain that Minato would be all he hoped and more.

"Mwahahahaa Minato my boy, you are destined for glory!" He laughed in his office and turned to watch the grand city of Tokyo, his arena for godhood. A playground for unearthly powers only he was in possessions of.

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Takami had gone home and spent a week with her children Yukari and Minato, trying in vain to make up for the fact that Minato would be leaving with her. While Yukari had started crying when Takami told her that her beloved Onii-chan was going to Tokyo with her mother, Minato was excited about seeing where her mother worked and being allowed to go with her this time. Although the school her mother said he would be going sounded difficult and was getting him nervous.

"Don't worry Yukari." Minato said, hugging her sister who was crying her eyes out. Yukari lifted her tear filled eyes to Minato and started crying even more as the thought that this was the last time she would see him came to her.

"I won't forget you and I promise to call you every week." Minato said and wiped her tears from her cheek.

" Promise that you'll be a good girl and stay with grandma. And if you're nice enough, maybe you can come too." Minato said comforting his younger sister.

"Y-you promise O-Onii-chan?" Yukari asked while sobbing and grabbed her brothers jacket harder.

"I promise Yukari, and besides. I can still come see you when the school is out for holidays and such. Isn't that right mom?" The boy asked Takami while patting her sister on the head.

"Yes Minato, that's right" Takami said knowing this would be the first of many lies she was forced to tell to Minato on the upcoming years. She felt miserable at the sight of her daughter crying over that she was left alone and the prospect of Minato going through what ever that insane man had deemed "necessary". Oh how she hoped he never would've thought up the sekirei plan or that she wouldn't have found the idea good one at the start of all of it.

"Come along Minato, we need to be going if we are going the get you to your school on time" She said tiredly and gave her little girl an hug and a kiss.

"Be a good girl Yukari, and we come see you anytime we can okay? Be a good girl for grandma" Takami said and started walking toward the car her hand in Minato's.

"I will mom, I p-promise I'll be a good girl. Onii-chan, take care" Yukari answered with a stronger voice than she was feeling. After waving goodbye to her brother and mother, she ran to her room and stayed there crying the rest of the day.

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Takami saw Minato fidgeting in the seat of the car from the side of her eyes and sighed.

"What is it Minato?" She asked while keeping her eyes on the road.

"I feel bad about Yukari mom, why couldn't she come with us?" Minato asked with a serious voice and looked at her mother.

"Because Yukari is still too young for this school, and she is better with grandma." Takami said for the hundredth time, only this time to Minato and not Yukari.

"This school is not the same as the one in home Minato, you need to take this seriously and if Yukari would have come along you wouldn't have been able to concentrate on school." Takami said with a small tremble at her voice and she gripped the steering wheel harder. Takami was glad Minato was too young to read anything more than missing home and Yukari from her voice.

"So what's the school like mom? I mean is it harder than regular school?" Minato asked now curious about his new school.

"Yes, it's a lot harder and longer. But in the end it will the best for you, It's a kind of prepping school for really smart people and you know you are smart Minato. You always score the top of your class" Takami answered with a fake smile. If it was not for Minaka's idiotic plan, her son would have been safe.

"Okay mom, I'll make you proud!" The young boy beamed a brilliant smile to his mother and then continue to look outside of the window. Takami sighed again and lit a cigarette. "_I wish you keep thinking that after you have been in the "school" for a while, I really do._" She thought and blowed smoke out of the car window.

The trip to Tokyo took almost three hours, she slowed down in purpose when she could and still wished it would have taken longer but the silhouette of Tokyo came to view only too soon and the closer they got, the closer the foreboding figure of the M.B.I tower came. She was just parking her car in the underground parking lot when man in black suit ran next to the car and knocked her window. Takami rolled the window down, knowing that it must be something serious as she always had not to distrub orders in place when she was not on the medical floor of the tower. The man didn't say a word, only gave her a note that summoned her to Medlab 3 and she instructed the man who gave the message to take Minato to her apartment on the 75th floor.

Takami then turned to Minato and patted him on the head while telling him that she would join him as soon as she solved the problem they had and he should follow this man to the place where they would be living. Minato nodded and stayed by the car to get his things from the trunk and Takami went straight to the elevator and headed to Medlab 3. After she got there, a myriad of folders and files were given to her that she needed to go through inorder to solve the problem which had occurred in the adjusting of sekirei. "_This will take longer than I thought._" She thought to herself while groaning inward.

Takami quickly walked to the intercom and called her apartment to tell Minato that she would be in the lab for a while to solve the problem. Minato said he would be fine and she wouldn't need to worry. Inside he was excited as he got to explore her mothers extravagant apartment without her telling that he shouldn't touch this or go in there.

"_Whoa, this place is HUGE!_" Minato though after exploring the apartment for a while. The room he had first seen had been the living room and it was undoubtedly the largest room in the place. It had a huge flat screen T.V on the other wall with a top of the line stereo system under it and facing that was a fireplace that looked old. Minato had thought of seeing if the stereo's or the T.V would work as good as he thought they would but decided not to when the consequences from the last times he had done so came to his mind. Takami was quick to discipline when he did something wrong and had taught her that as a man, he would be responsible for his own mistakes. Two couches and arm chairs framed a coffee table that had it's center made of glass in the middle of the room and they were standing on top of a white rug. Two corridors left from the living room, one leading right and one leading left while there was an open kitchen in the corner near the door.

Minato had walked in the left corridor of the apartment as it had been closer to him and he had found three bedrooms that looked like they had been stolen from a five star hotel. Comfortable looking double beds, night stands and lamps were in place but it looked like there had never been anyone in any of the bedrooms. "_I want this as my room!"_ Minato thought when the last of the bedrooms had a T.V in it and a personal shower.

Feeling a little thirsty, Minato made his way to the kitchen for a glass of water or possibly juice if his mother had remembered to buy it. He was disappointed at the lack of juice and went to get water from the kitchen sink when he saw a door being slightly ajar with light coming out if it. He was curious and went to see what room it was. He opened the door and saw a room filled with equipment that reminded him about the science room in his old school, he was a little disappointed at the lack of anything cool when a flash of light caught his attention. There was a table with a new looking computer on it and its screen had come to life with a stream of photographs of girls started to twirl around it. Minato was mesmerized at the photos as the girls were really pretty.

Minato was startled when he heard a door slam shut and his mother shouted that she was home. Minato ran to his mother, not wanting to get caught being in one of her rooms and told Takami that she needed to buy juice. After they ate a small evening snack, they unpacked his things in the cabinets of what was going to be his room, Takami had frowned at his choice but relented as it was one of the few things she could give the boy without feeling guilty about it. After they had finished the unpacking, Minato went straight to bed as his mother had said that tomorrow would be his first day of his new school. Minato had a hard time falling asleep as he could hardly wait, he was so excited to see this new school and hopefully new friends.

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Minato was woken up by an alarm clock promptly at seven in the morning and he slowly dressed while moaning about being tired and made his way to the kitchen. He found a note stuck to the fridge door that said that his mother had already left for work and his breakfast was in the microwave. And that someone would be around to take him to school. Minato ate quickly and went to the living room to sit on the couch and maybe going through the cabinets there while waiting for someone to come pick him up.

Little before eight, there was a knock on the door. Minato walked to the door and opened it, surprised to see a man in a black suit and with a serious face. The man told Minato that he was picking him up and that they would go for a check up first. Being a little baffled at what the unknown man had said, Minato decided to ask him.

"Why do I need a checkup first? We just had our medical in my old school" Minato said and looked at the man. He answered with a slightly irritated tone that Minato needed a check up before he could go to school so they would know his health and could go over his diet and other important things like that.

"Makes sense I guess." Minato replied and started walking behind the big man. The man took him to an elevator and swiped something on the numerical pad of the elevator, making the doors close and the elevator started going down rapidly. After a few minutes on the elevator and couple more through an corridor, they arrived at a metal door that had a sign on top of it saying Medlab 2. Minato thought it was bit weird for his checkup, but figured that it was just like a doctor's office. He was ushered straight inside and the man seated him in a chair that resembled the one he had seen in a dentists office.

"Hello Minato-kun, my name is June and I'll be doing your checkup today." Minato heard a woman's voice and turned his head towards it. He saw a brown haired woman with brown eyes, who was slightly younger than his mother and she was wearing white trousers with a white shirt that had a white lab coat pulled over it. Minato spotted many pens in the breast pocket and a stethoscope around her neck.

"Will this take long? I really don't want to be late on my first day." Minato said to June, eager to start in his new school.

"No Minato-kun, I just need to check a few things and then we will be all done" June said happily and started asking questions and checking the paper in her clipboard. After half an hour of questions, June proceeded to check his weight, height, posture and eyesight.

"One more thing to do Minato-kun." June said and placed the clipboard on his desk and pulled a syringe from the side-table that had multiple needles and tourniquets placed on it.

"I need to give you this shot as you are new here and we don't want you to be sick." June said and showed him a syringe with clear fluid inside. Minato nodded and closed his eyes while June placed a tourniquet in his arm and tightened it, making the vein in Minato's arm pop out.

"Now this might sting a bit, but I'm sure a big boy like you can handle it right?" She said with a warm tone and rubbed sanitation alcohol in Minato's arm before giving him the shot. After the shot, that had stung quite a bit, Minato started feeling slightly dizzy. When he told June that he was feeling dizzy, she said it was ok and expected because the shot was protecting him and his classmates from a variety of illnesses so it was prone to make one sleepy or dizzy. Then Minato fell asleep while June started smiling. "_He is so adorable, I can't believe he is mine now._" She thought and pressed a button on her speakerphone.

"He's ready, we can begin the procedure now" June said to the speakerphone on her desk and shortly after the notification, few men with lab coats came in and took Minato to the next room where he was placed on an operating table. He was hooked to a variety of medical instruments like drop bottle and EKG. Blood samples were taken from unconscious Minato and June told the men to be careful and not cause bruises to form. Multitude of shots were given to him while they placed a headset on his head that was spouting hypnotherapy. The point of the therapy was to give him memories of his "school day" and mold his mind to be more receptive to learning the things he was needed to learn as he was now a part of the training program called Phoenix.

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When Minato woke up, he was back in his mother's apartment, laying on one of the couches while the T.V was on with the newest episode of the latest hit anime rolling. "_How did I get back home? I was in the middle of the class and...Oh, I must've fallen asleep and someone brought me home_." Minato thought and got up from the couch. He noticed that Takami wasn't home yet and so he called her to find out that she was almost home and she would make dinner to them.

"How was your day at school honey?" Takami asked her son in trepidation while making dinner. She had had nightmares last night of what Minaka had scheduled for Minato.

"Oh it was fun, can't really remember my classmates but the lessons were great. Teacher was kind and stuff." Minato said happily but suddenly fell silent and a light pink came to his cheeks. Takami noticed it and stopped her cooking to give Minato a stern look. Minato recognized the look and gulped.

"I-I fell asleep in class and don't know who brought me home" He said sheepishly to his mother and waited her to yell at him for sleeping.

"About that, your teacher called me and said she would bring you here, since I was busy." Takami said to Minato with a relieved voice, she was happy that Minato didn't remember anything he really had gone through.

"She was upset that you were sleeping in her class but understood that you had only moved in here yesterday." Takami continued with a stern voice. "_Oh Minato, honey. I'm so glad that you don't remember but it seems that I can't do nothing else than to watch from the side._" She thought with fear about how effective the treatment had been on Minato on the first day, it seemed that Minaka is taking this seriously.

"I'll do better mother, I promise." Minato said and hold out a plate to Takami. She quickly finished her cooking and gave Minato a plateful while taking some to herself. Minato ate with silence and good appetite as Takami merely prodded the food along the plate, too caught up in her head to be hungry. Minato took their plates to the sink and took out his schedule from the printouts that were in a pile on the coffee table with his name on top of them.

"What's CCT mom? I have only that for the next three days in my schedule." Minato asked and looked at his schedule with a quizzical look. Takami almost dropped the plates in the sink when she heard that question. "_Minaka you bastard!_" She thought and turned towards Minato and gave him a weak smile.

"T-Thats martial arts training Minato." Takami said, knowing already how her son would react to this.

"The school is big on sports and since you're so good in normal subjects, we agreed with the principal that your regular lessons are kept in one grade higher than you should be and they would step up your sports as you had very little of that back home." Takami continued without giving Minato to say anything before she was finished.

"If you say so mom, but I don't know how much fun will martial arts be. I don't want to learn how to hurt people." Minato said seriously.

"I know dear but this is for self-protection and I know it's going to be rough but give it a chance. I think you will like it." Takami replied and went back to washing dishes while Minato kept memorizing his schedule. Takami's heart was aching at the amount of lies she had to tell to Minato. After washing the dishes and telling Minato to go to bed since tomorrow will be an early day and he would need the energy for the martial arts training, Takami took a bottle of scotch and a glass with her and went to the only place she knew she had some privacy. She was in her lab almost all night, drinking quietly and cursing Minaka and his damned plan. Cursing the gods he so much loved for getting her son into this mess.

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The next day Minato was taken to a Dojo after finding out that his mother had once again left the apartment while he still slept. The Dojo was more like a big room with four rings on hard tatami mats than an actual training room. Posters of paper was strewn on the walls with kanji marks that were too difficult for Minato to read and in one wall was racks upon racks of weapons. Swords, spears, anything you could think of and then Minato saw that in one of the rings was standing an older man with a white gi and a black belt. Minato went to him and bowed for the man who insisted that Minato called him sensei. His training had begun and it started brutally and harshly. After the beating disguised as training was done, Minato was left in tears and in pain in his mother's apartment, lying on the couch being almost unable to move. His chest and hands were showing signs of bruising and his lower lip was split.

Minato lied on the couch and wished for his mother to come home and comfort him as he remembered the training. The teacher had not been nice at all, he had called him names and didn't stop beating him even when he asked or was lying on the ground. Minato wanted for his mother to come and take him back home, but she didn't come. He cried in the couch of being hurt and alone and eventually, being exhausted by his sadness and aching body, he fell asleep. Takami opened the door slowly and came inside the apartment and saw how beaten up her son was, he was black-eyed and there were dried blood in his cheeks.

"I'm sorry Minato, I'm so so sorry." She whispered and took him to his bed where she cleaned his face and changed him to his pajamas. Kissing his forehead she pulled a blanket to his chin and left to drink again. As the days of Minato's training went on, every time he saw his mother he asked if he could go home which the answer was no. Takami always said no, giving an excuse after another and after six months, Minato stopped asking. Takami was afraid of the change she was seeing in her son but helpless to stop it.

"How are you doing Minato?" Takami asked one morning while cooking breakfast with shaking hands, Minaka had shown her one of the videos he had recorded of Minato and it had shocked her to the core.

"Fine Mother." was Minatos only reply as he did his now daily push ups and pull ups.

"Here's your.." Takami started but was cut off by Minato.

"I need to get going or sensei will be mad." So Takami watched her son leave for another day of brutal combat training, she hoped to see Minato after the training so she could talk to him and remind him that she was still there for him but Minato didn't come back home that day, nor the next day.

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"MINAKA! WHERE THE FUCK IS MINATO?!" Takami screamed with anger that could be counted as the holy wrath of god as she kicked the insane corporate presidents office doors open with a slam.

"What did you do to him! Answer me you sick bastard!" She continued her bellowing and picked up a vase that was standing on a pedestal near the door and threw it towards Minaka. The vase shattered against the table, the shards sliding across the surface and finally dropping on the lap of the white-clad man who was sporting his regular grin.

"He's training as you very well Takami-kun." He said while sweeping the shards off his desk with one hand and watching as the woman came closer to the desk, breathing heavily from the screaming.

"He was performing so admirably and learning faster than I presumed. So I did the only thing I could do the reward such behaviour and sent him on to the second stage of his training six months early. Surely you are happy about the progress of your son?" Minaka said with a smirk clear in his voice and grinned at the raging inferno on the eyes of the woman.

"As you remember Takami-kun. I said you can live with him for the time being, and that time has passed." Minaka said calmly and placed his chin on top of his hand that he keeping on the table. Takami ripped his phone of the wall and proceeded to whack his head with it all the while screaming she would kill him if Minato wasn't back at the end of the day.

"Should I get Yukari in his stead then? If you are so adamant at not giving Minato a chance, maybe you would be happier if Yukari was here instead" Minaka asked calmly and held his handkerchief on his now bleeding temple. Takami was blown out of her rage again by the most simplest of sentences and she knew she was trapped. Nothing she said or did would change the situation and Takami had to make sure that Yukari would not suffer this, it was bad enough Minato had to go through with it.

"Let me at least see he is okay, you bastard. You owe me that much." She said with a compliant tone and dropped the phone from her hands.

"I will, if you keep your end of the bargain Takami-kun" Minaka said and sat back down in his chair.

"Fine, I will adjust all the sekirei who come out of hibernation and not only Takehito's, just let me see my son!" Takami said and lit a cigarette. Minaka then punched a few keys in his computer and took over a live feed looking at the combat training of Minato.

"Come here Takami-kun. Come and see your son at his finest." Minaka said with glee and pulled away from the monitor of his computer. Takami walked over and looked at the monitor, only to see her son being thrown around by a much older man. Takami noticed that even if Minato was getting brutal training, he was fine and she let out a sigh of relief. Takami suddenly tensed when the teacher went to the wall and placed something on his waist.

"Why is the teacher holding a sword?" She asked when she saw the older man pulling two katanas out of their sheaths.

"Because in this stage, Minato gets to learn techniques that are effective against armed opponents too. I have great plans for Minato and he is living up to them quite nicely." Minaka said proudly. Feeling utterly defeated Takami left the office and went to her home to drink until she didn't see straight.

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"_Why did mom say I can't come home_?" Minato thought again at the words had been so casually said to him. Three days ago, after another set of lessons where he had to do his best to survive, there had been a man in a familiar black suit at the Dojo who had flatly said that Minato was to stay at the Dojo. When he had asked why, the man looked at him with uncaring eyes and told that his mother didn't want him there, she had forbidden him to enter the apartment until she said otherwise.

Feeling rejected and betrayed, Minato had not wanted to leave a message to his mother and he sent the man away. He sighed, turned to his side and closed his eyes and went to sleep, not wanting to dwell on it anymore. And so the days went on and they turned to weeks which again turned to months. Minato was now proficient in most of the martial arts he had been taught and some of the weapons like katana and wakizashi, knifes and batons. He was not an expert but good enough for his own standards, sadly this was not enough for his sensei. He kept pushing him and had now decided to get a partner to spar with him.

Minato looked as a young girl with, oddly enough, pink hair and a black. one sleeved kimono was brought in. "_She's to be my spar partner? She's so small!_" Minato thought in disbelief but kept silent. He didn't want to be rude and his teacher had taught him to be quiet unless spoken to.

"My name is Benitsubasa and I'm supposed to be your partner for today" the girl said and bowed to Minato.

"My name is Minato and I'm glad to have you" he replied and bowed in return. Without a word they assumed their positions in the ring and when the sensei gave the clearance to begin, they started. It was an even match in terms of skill but Minato quickly noticed that Benitsubasa had far greater strength than him. Luckily until now the training on him had been brutal and his pain tolerance greatly grown as his sensei had known he would be sparring against one of the sekirei at some point. He had not been expecting so soon but nonetheless, here they were. Benitsubasa won by knockout but she was impressed that he could keep up with her. "_He's not half-bad._" She thought and went to get a drink. Minato's teacher was also amazed that Minato had it in him and so it was decided that Benitsubasa would be sparring with Minato from now on.

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Houuu, what are you doing I hear you thinking. I am making this more polished, that's what. Truthfully, I was re-reading this while thinking about the new chapter and found out that the difference in writing between this chapter and my latest one is drastic. So, I decided to do this quickly to gauge your reactions. Don't worry, I still intend to write TsoO fully to it's closure, I am doing this on the side when I think about the next chapter and so on. But tell me people, is this one better than the original first chapter or is it the other way around. Please Review, that would be very much appreciated.

I have been informed that this is the way to go, so I will place this in the original storyline of Two sides of One and delete the other version interily. Sorry if this annoys you but I do try to do what my readers want.

-DraXXter-


	2. Chapter 2

I do not own sekirei or anyhting sekirei related, sadly

It had been two weeks since sekirei #105 started sparring with Minato and much to Minaka's ire, he was not showing that much improvement. Yes, he was getting faster and his hand to hand combat skill were improving but his hits didn't have any force in them. Each hit Minato landed on the smaller girl didn't even make her flinch, and this was not acceptable. Deciding to have his genealogists and gene therapy experts on hand to solve this problem for him, he called to the labs.

Takami frowned as he heard that Minaka had called a meeting with some of the scientists in the labs, she was wondering what could have been so important that they had to leave the tuning of the adjustment plans for sekirei. Turning her head back to the screen in front of her, she continued to work on the adjustment plans of the sekirei that were now her responsibility and forgot the matter in minutes as her task overwhelmed her conscious mind.

"Gentleman, I have called you here today to discuss the simple matter of how can we improve the performance of Minato Sahashi, our beloved test Ashikabi?" Minaka asked the 5 scientists sitting around the conference table in Minakas office.

"I don't know how much more we can push him without harming him Sir" a young scientist on the left side of Minaka said. With a madman's grin Minaka turned his head to the scientist and said that as long as Minato didn't die from the treatment it really didn't matter to him and instead of whining, they should be focused on giving him options. One of the older scientists suggested that they introduced a drug that increased aggressiveness in combat situations and one said that they recently had been successful at introducing small amounts of sekirei genes into mice.

"Wonderful, I trust that these treatments are available immediately" Minaka said with satisfaction and dismissed the scientists from the office. Once again opening the video of Minato's latest training session he only dreamed at the possibilities of such treatments. If all went well with his plan, he could soon introduce Minato to his coming sekirei. Not that they are ready to be winged just yet as they still weren't made submissive to their Ashikabis.

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"He's a madman, we can't do this to a child" Takami heard one of the scientist who'd been called to Minaka's office say in a hushed tone. Her ears strained to hear the rest of the conversation.

"I know he is, but he is also powerful enough that we can not do what he said Hoshiro, surely you can see this. All we can do is pity the poor bastard, nothing more." Was the reply to the scientist voicing his reluctance at the task at hand. With a heavy sigh the group began to prep Minatos new treatments. When they left for a break, Takami zoomed to their working area to see what was riling them up. Seeing the treatments that they were planning she knew they were for the "training" of Minato.

"Oh god no" Takami whispered to herself as she knew what treatments would do. They would destroy her little boy and make a machine out of him. She was still staring the treatment files when the scientist were coming back from the break. Hearing the faint sounds of shuffling feet, she made a quick decision. She changed a few drugs from the list to ones who would force the change in attitude only on high levels of adrenaline, but she was too late to change the implantation of sekirei cells. Takami hurriedly returned to her desk and pretended to read the charts, all the while listening if they spotted what she had done. Hearing no sudden gasps or any kind of acknowledgement of tampering of the files, she sighed in relief and continued the planning of tests to the unlucky sekirei who was chosen as a guinea pig.

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Minato was confused as he was walked towards Medlab 2 to his checkup, which was a day too early. He was already wondering why he had so many of them but since he was assured it was required for all students in this high-end school, he went with the men with black suits. Minato had decided that the men were guards of the school and since they were wearing black suits, there must be really important people going to this school. Never once did it cross Minato's mind that the people there were lying to him, he had no reason to suspect the words of adults, since the bad adults were the ones who went to jail. That's what he had been taught and that was what he believed in.

"Hello Minato-kun, sorry for the early checkup but it seems that tomorrow there will be a new student in the school, we need to check you a little early so we can prepare if something is wrong. Hope you don't mind" June said to the boy warmly and patted the seat next to her.

"Not at all June-san. I got to admit that I was wondering why so early but I understand, we must welcome the new student without trouble" Minato replied happily to the woman and jumped to the seat. June took a few blood samples from him and checked his eyes and blood pressure before giving him a shot. As always he got dizzy and felt very sleepy at the shot and after a short while, he fell asleep. It didn't take long for the scientist to come in and give him the two injections that were stated on his chart and then Minato was carted back to the Dojo.

Minato was having a very bad dream, he was tied to a chair and huge needles were slowly closing in on him and as he was trying to get up from the chair before the needles got closer, he noticed that he couldn't move. Looking down he saw June smiling a devils smile and finishing tying up his legs.

"Now don't worry Minato-kun, this will be over soon" the woman said with an eerie voice as she took one of the needles and shoved it into his eye. Minato woke up screaming.

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Breathing heavily Akitsu gritted her teeth as convulsions rippled through her body for a hundredth time. Looking to her left she saw the scientist making markings on a chart and discussing something in a low voice. How she wished that it would be over, she was miserable and this hurt and she really didn't care that this was for her sisters benefit. She just wanted the pain to stop and those stupid humans leave her alone. After another spasm she felt tears pouring from her eyes and then she passed out. When Akitsu woke up, there was nobody in the room and she was put on the bed that was next to the only window to the room. It did not show the sky or trees but only the bleak corridors she always saw, there were nothing in the corridors except darkness. Always darkness. She didn't know why the only time there were light was when she was hurting but it didn't matter, she liked the dark better anyway. In the darkness there were no pain, there were no needles and there were no stupid humans. Just her and the buzz of the few security light's that gave the room and ethereal glow. Suddenly she felt heat, intense heat from inside her body and it hurt, it hurt her like hell fire. She already knew that she could control ice, as she had accidentally frozen one of the machines in the room before she learned to control this. And after she learned to control this, she was feeling always slightly chilled to the touch. But this heat was something she was not used to, it burned her inside out but the biggest pain was in her forehead. It felt like her skin were melting. It was the next morning before she got to know that she was winged, that she could never have an Ashikabi. Akitsu didn't know what an Ashikabi was but judging by the agitated state of the stupid humans, it was something really important. Akitsu wept again as she thought that the humans had taken something precious away from her, and that was the last time she wept. She felt lost and alone and there was nothing anybody could do about it.

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"Dammit" Minato growled as he was knocked to the floor...again and seeing Benitsubasa grinning didn't make it any easier. It had started to annoy him greatly that this little girl pushed him around which every way she wanted. Slamming his fist on the ground he got up and assumed the starting stance again.

"You sure you want to do this Min-kun?" Benitsubasa asked gleefully as she also took the starting stance of their sparring. Minato only nodded in return and decided that this time, he would be the one to knock HER down, not the other way around. His sensei checked that both were ready and started the 5th match of the day. Benitsubasa was taunting Minato by slowing down her punches and suddenly spurting from his kicks and punches. She bursted laughing as Minato threw a punch and missed her again.

"You'll never hit me like that Min-kun." she said and started to punch Minato to his sides and stomach. With an wheezing sound Minato skidded a few steps back and then something snapped in his head, he got really angry and suddenly everything was a blur. Benitsubasa's eyes widened as she saw Minato starting to speed up his punches and kicks. With a growl he side stepped her punch and grabbed her wrist.

"Wow Minato, you actually.." was all Benitsubasa got to say before Minato punched her straight in the mouth, knocking a tooth loose and sending her flat on her back. Benitsubasa put her hand on her mouth and looked at Minato.

"What was that for?" she asked and pulled her hand to see if there were blood. There was, quite a lot of blood actually. Minato's eyes flashed and he attacked the girl again. Benitsubasa only just dodged his kick, being shocked at the sudden change of her sparring partner. Just as she was rising up, Minato's knee struck her right on her chin. Benitsubasa's mouth shut with a clatter and the impact forced her to take two steps back.

"Minato, you'd better stop before I get mad!" the girl shouted to him but he didn't hear her. The only though in his head was to win, and by god that was just what he was going to do. Doing a jump kick at her head, missing only by an inch he came down to a roll. He rolled a few times before he used the momentum to jump back and do a kick behind his back. He caught Benitsubasa by surprise and hit her straight to the stomach and following up with an uppercut she caused her to bend in the middle only to get whacked in the jaw the moment her head was going down. Their teacher didn't believe his eyes as he saw that Minato was now on par with the sekirei, in term of speed and strength. He decided to stop the match and tried to grab Minatos shoulder, but it ended with the try as Minato threw the teacher over his head and slammed him to the floor making him spit blood.

"Good boy Minato, I knew you had great things stored for you" Minaka said to himself as he watched Minato from the observatory. He looked at the folder on his right hand side and as he remembered that only 3 days had been since the start of the new gene therapy he had commissioned and Minato had improved greatly. The only thing that was bugging him was that Minato didn't show this strength in the start of the battle but only when he was losing, sorely. Deciding to check with the scientist about this, he left Minato to his raging and exited the observatory.

Minato and Benitsubasa were both equally landing punches now that Benitsubasa was over the shock of seeing her partner seemingly change in a blink of an eye. Both were bleeding and panting but neither were giving up, until Benitsubasa caught Minato on the side of his head. Minato slumped a little and let out a small groan.

"Where?... huh, what was I doing?" Minato said aloud and as his anger for losing was lost and his adrenaline levels were lowering. The damage he had accumulated now caught up to him. He blacked out on the spot leaving a very confused Benitsubasa looking over a unconscious teacher and Minato. Minato was taken to the Medlab 2 along with their teacher to get treated for the beating as Benitsubasa was being looked after in Medlab 3. She was huffing at the sudden change of Minato when she felt a hand grab her shoulder. Turning her head she saw it was Takami, her adjuster.

"What did you say Tsubasa? Your sparring partner changed in the middle of your sparring? Who was it, I need to do better adjustments, it's not normal for sekirei to loose it like that" Takami said with a worried voice as she went over the injuries of Benitsubasa.

"It wasn't a sekirei Takami-sensei, it was this stupid boy they have me sparring with." Benitsubasa said with irritation, as she was annoyed that the weakling boy had actually managed to hurt her.

"A boy? What boy? I wasn't told you sparred against any boy" Takami said and started applying the healing salve they had gotten from the sekirei ship to Benitsubasas injuries.

"His name is Minato, and he was such a pushover until now, but it was kind of scary how he changed all of a sudden. First he was like he always was, weak and slow. But the 5th time he and I started the match it was different. Like normal I was moving around him and teasing him with my near misses and he didn't even come close to hitting me, but then he changed. He got faster and stronger all of a sudden and didn't stop even after he knocked out the teacher, I mean there was no reason to get that mad" Benitsubasa said puffing her cheeks at the memory of the boy.

"Listen to me Tsubasa, that was not Minato's fault. The scientists here did something to him and now when he get's too mad or scared he will change like that. I need you to help him Tsubasa, because I can't. Can you do that for me?" Takami said seriously as she stared the pink haired sekirei in the eyes.

"S-sure Takami-sensei" Benitsubasa answered taken aback by the sudden fervor of the woman.

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He was running now, finally gotten out of the chair but the needles didn't leave him alone and neither did June. Laughing and telling him to stop, the woman ran after him with a hacksaw in hand.

"Stay away from me, I'm scared of you June-san" Minato shouted with a high-pitched voice. Looking back he saw June speeding up and that's when he tripped. June was next to him in a second and leather straps came from the ground and suddenly he was strapped in a medical table and June was starting to saw his hand off.

Minato woke up screaming again. Breathing heavily he looked around him and saw that he was in a small hospital room with no windows, a door to his right and the bed he was laying in. He noticed he was almost covered in bandages and he couldn't see well with his left eye. Bringing his hand to his eye he noticed that it was swollen shut and he had no idea how that had happened. He sighed and thought about what to do. He was in a hospital bed and he did not know how he ended up there or how he had gotten so beat up. The last thing he remembered was that he was struck in the stomach really hard by Benitsubasa and after that, nothing. He was trying to decide whether to get up and trying to find his way to the Dojo or staying in the room and waiting for someone to come there. That's when he heard a sudden metallic clang and a moan.

The wish to help who ever was in trouble clashing with the fear of not knowing what was happening fighting in his head, Minato stared at his door almost sure that soon June would come with a giant syringe or a hacksaw and start doing what ever she wanted to him. After hearing another moan, he got up from the bed and started limping towards the door. He was sure that the one who was moaning was a girl and as a man, he has to help. The teachings of his mother still stuck to him like glue. Slowly opening the door he saw a dark corridor with two doors on the opposite side of him with a window in between. He saw a faint glow of light coming from the window and decided to go check if there was someone there of needing help.

This was the absolute worst, what ever the shot was that they gave her this time made Akitsu feel like dying, multiple times over. She spasmed and kicked over her night tray with water on it a little while ago and couldn't help but moan at the spilled water. She was thirsty, so thirsty that she was sure she was dying of thirst. Trying to get up but feeling to weak she let out another moan in disappointment. She was feeling so sick now that nothing came close to this feeling but luckily it was not as bad as it was when they had injected her with whatever it was that they injected her with. Looking over at the fallen trey she saw a boy in the window. Startled by the sudden appearance she screamed.

"Gah!" Minato flinched from the window when the pretty girl he had seen suddenly screamed. Realizing that he had scared her, he brought his finger to his lips for a shh gesture. Looking around he saw that the door to his left was the door to this room, he went for it. He wanted to ask was she okay cause she sounded like she was in pain and wanted to help her. He slowly opened the door so he wouldn't make any sound and made his way to the bed.

"Are you okay?" he asked with a whisper when he got next to her and got a head shake in return.

"Thirsty" Akitsu said, not caring who the boy was if she could get something to drink. Minato looked around and saw that there was a metallic tray on the floor with a spilled jug of water and a glass. He picked up the jug and the glass which he gave to the girl and shaked the jug to signify that he was going to get her some water. Akitsu nodded in return and placed her head back at the bed. 'Why am I whispering when there is no one around' Minato thought while making way to the sink on the other side of the room. When he got there, he noticed that there were several syringes layed out in the table next to the sink and remembering his dream, he flinched away from the table before he berated himself. 'They are not going to attack you on their own idiot. That was only a dream' he scolded himself and started filling the jug.

When the jug was full, he closed the tap and walked back to the bed and without saying a word he filled her glass. She gave him a grateful look and drank the glass in one go and immediately pushed the glass towards Minato for a refill. After a third glass of water Akitsu sighed in relief and thanked Minato.

"Your welcome, my name is Minato, what is yours?" not knowing what else to say he asked her name.

"Akitsu, are you here for tests too?" she asked because she couldn't think of any other reason for people being there. All the others were few floors down and she had only seen the scientist there. Minato shaked his head and told her he just woke up in the room across from her and didn't know how he got there. Minato asked what Akitsu meant by tests and then he got a confusing explanation about wagtails, something called Ashikabis and all other stuff that didn't make any sense to Minato. He told Akitsu about how he came there with his mother who didn't want to see him anymore and how he was in a special school for special people. She talked about the tests they did to her and he talked about the training and school days. Akitsu then told Minato that Benitsubasa was her sister and Minato promised to tell Benitsubasa where Akitsu was so she wouldn't have to worry.

"I'm sorry Akitsu, but I'm starting to get really tired. I'm going to go into my room to get some sleep" Minato said with a tired voice and stifled a yawn. Although he would have like to talk a little more since Akitsu was the only one he'd seen besides his teacher and Benitsubasa, he was getting really tired. The nightmare he had seen had not helped him gain any energy.

"No, please stay with me. I hate being alone and now that you're here, I don't want to be left alone again" Akitsu pleaded Minato grabbing his hand. Minato hesitated for a second but when he saw Akitsu's eyes he agreed and climbed next to her.

"I'm going to sleep on top of the planket so you don't have to worry about me" Minato said and yawned. Akitsu agreed hastily being happy that she didn't need to sleep alone. They both closed their eyes and in a minute they were both sound a sleep.

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"Who's the boy? What is he doing here?" the scientists wondered when they came to the room in the morning and finding Minato and Akitsu sleeping in the same bed. Akitsu had draped her hands around Minato's waist and Minato had drawn Akitsu in a hug. Both were having a small smile on their faces.

"It's the boy from Phoenix" one of the scientists said recognizing Minatos face.

"We need to get him out of here, fast!" another said to this new information and started walking towards the bed.

"Wait you fool, look at them. I think we can use this" the lead scientist said while looking at the pair of sleeping children, well technically Akitsu wasn't a child but close enough. They discussed at what to do with Minato and Akitsu. After a short discussion they informed Takami about the situation and waited for her to come there. Takami almost sprinted when she got the call the her son was sleeping with Akitsu. She paced around the elevator as it made its way to the testing facilities below ground level. After getting a loud Ding which indicated that she had arrived to the testing floors, she walked briskly towards the room where they were testing what physiological changes happened in a sekirei when they were winged. When she got to the window that showed the insides of Akitsus room, she stopped and watched how peaceful her son looked. The little smiles on both of their faces soothed her heart from the worry that something bad had happened to Minato. When she looked closer at Minato she saw that Benitsubasa had really went to town with Minato. She was amazed how he was alive at the amount of damage his body had taken but then she remembered that Minato had been injected with sekirei cells. They made him sturdier and able to take a beating that would've killed normal humans.

"How long has he been here?" Takami asked the others while she made her way quietly inside the room.

"No idea Takami-san, but we can check the cameras. They should be able to tell us something. But how are we going to deal with this?" the lead scientist asked Takami who was now smoking and thinking furiously.

"Check the cameras and let me think for a bit" Takami replied and kept her eyes on the bed. Then she noticed the sekirei symbol on Akitsus head. Questioning the scientists about it, she learned that it had appeared on her forehead the night before this and they were rather certain it was because of the blood they had injected in her to see what parts of it reacted to sekirei.

"What blood? You were not supposed to use blood, you idiots. Now she's half winged with no chance getting an Ashikabi." Takami fumed to the bunch of idiots who were trying to tell her that it was just some excess blood from the Medlabs on level 20. Takami lifted her brow at this information.

"You used the blood from Medlab 2?" Takami asked and furrowed his eyebrows in concentration, a daring plan forming in her head.

"That's right Takami-san. There were so many vials of it and June said that they didn't need it all so we took a few vials to test with" a younger scientist answered Takami. 'Perfect, this is just what I needed' Takami thought and told the scientists to give both some anaesthetic and move them to the room down the hall. She then made way to the elevator. Once at the elevator she pressed the button that indicated the top floor and at the same time the office of a certain madman. She was sure he listened her suggestion this time.

As Takami was making her way to the top floor, the scientists gave both Akitsu and Minato anaesthetics and moved them to the double room at the end of the corridor. They still didn't know what Takami had planned and since she hadn't given them any other instructions, they left the room and went about checking the data they had accumulated and figuring out new ways to see what actually happened in a winging.

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"Ah, Takami-kun. Always good to see you, how have you been" Minaka asked the woman who was standing in front of him.

"Drop it Minaka, I'm not here for pleasantries" Takami replied.

"Shame, I was hoping we could catch up over a cup of coffee" Minaka smirked. Takami rolled her eyes at the man.

"dammit Minaka, take this seriously. I have a suggestion for you" Takami said anger rising in her voice.

"Very well Takami-kun. What did you have in mind?" Minaka said seriously for a change, although he kept playing with the collar of his cape.

"Minato was sleeping with Akitsu in the same bed, and by the idiocy of the group responsible of winging tests, they have made Akitsu highly compatible with Minato" Takami said and showed Minaka the content of the folder she had taken from the room. Minaka took the folder and began reading the treatments given to Akitsu and stopped when he saw that Akitsu had been injected with blood taken from Medlab 2.

"They injected Akitsu with Minatos blood? Hmm, now isn't this a surprise" Minaka said to himself and started thinking about pairing Akitsu with Minato but quickly deciding against it. Minato wasn't ready for it and Akitsu had a lot of testing to do before she could be released. Minaka wanted the winging process to be quick when they actually released the sekirei in to the general populace.

"I see where you are going with this Takami-kun, but the answer is no. Akitsu is not done and Minato is not ready" Minaka said with a tone that didn't encourage debate.

"Okay, if not now then how about later? You know Akitsu is not able to be winged by anyone else, hell it's not even sure that she can be winged even to Minato" Takami shot back, recognizing the tone that Minaka was using, she had heard it a number of times before.

"let's see what's what when Akitsu is done" was the reply she got to it. Takami agreed knowing this was the only way she could give both of them a chance.

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Minato opened his eyes and for a while he was bewildered when in front of his face was the face of a cute girl smiling. Remembering quickly how he had agreed to sleep with the lonely girl, he quickly got up not wanting to cause trouble to Akitsu, as he remembered her name. He was even more confused when he noticed that the room was not the same where they had started sleeping and became worried that something bad was about to happen. He got out of the bed and just as he was turning around to see what was in the room, he got startled when the door quickly slammed open and his teacher came in. The teacher grabbed Minato by the shoulder and took him out of there without a word. Minato didn't resist knowing it would only cause the teacher to strike at him without warning. It took them a good 20 minute walk and a 10 minute elevator ride to arrive at the floor where the Dojo was. The teacher tossed him at the center of the tatami mats and suddenly Minato found out that he had only thought the beginning of the training to be hard.

He no longer trained with Benitsubasa alone but his teacher teamed up with Benitsubasa, and more than once he noticed that he didn't always remember how the training ended. When he got the amnesia attack, which June had said was because of a hit to his head but nothing to worry about since there were no permanent damage, he got to see Akitsu. They quickly became friends and when his recovery took longer than a day, the scientist allowed him to company Akitsu for the day. Minaka had instructed them this way and neither Akitsu or Minato noticed that the scientist were studying the two.

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"Now this is more like it, this is what I wanted to see" Minaka said happily as he examined the folder of Minato. Minato was now slightly stronger than normal humans of his age (13) and much more faster, thanks to the reflex training which consisted the tag team battles of Benitsubasa and his teacher. The only down side was that he was not going to develop more speed or strength no matter what they did, Minato's body would start to break down if they tried to use more gene therapy sessions on him. Of this Minaka wasn't happy, he had wanted to create an Ashikabi capable of being totally in par with a sekirei. The scientists had said that Minato was now on par with Benitsubasa but unlike Minato, she would grow in speed and power still. So the only conclusion left for Minaka was to give Minato battle experience. To gain this end he gave the weapons training to the leader of Disciplinary Squad's leader, Sekirei # 4 Karasuba

"What is it you want little man? I have better things to do than stare at your ugly face" Karasuba said with annoyance, sharpening her nodachi and glaring at Minaka.

"Now now Karasuba, I thought we were in better terms than this" Minaka said warmly not being affected at the irritated tone of the slightest.

"But the thing is, I want you to train a certain boy with weaponry, hand weapons of course. Nothing that includes shooting, only swords, knifes and the likes." Minaka said and grinned at the sekirei woman.

"You want the boy dead? I don't take little shits running around me" Karasuba said, her annoyance rising in her voice. She stopped sharpening the nodachi and put it back in to it's sheath.

"Do give it a try Karasuba, if the boy is not to your liking you can stop. But please don't kill him, I have plans for him. If you get him trained enough, you can take him with you on your missions" Minaka said knowing he had gotten her attention with this.

"Hoo? You think a human boy would keep up with me?" Karasuba said with interest. Minaka knew what kind of missions she did and the thought of a boy doing it with her made her almost lauch. Almost. Minaka's face showed that he was dead serious about this and things involving sekirei, his seriousness was almost a guarantee. Guarantee that his words were not to be taken slightly.

"Yes I do. He has shown promise already. If you would turn your attention at the screen over there" Minaka said and pointed a big screen at the far end of the office. Karasuba turned to watch and the video playing in the screen got him interested more. The boy indeed showed promise and his movements weren't that bad. But the thing that caught her eye was the way he ruthlessly pounded both of his opponents, granted that Benitsubasa was beating more of him than he was her but still. The boy didn't even flinch at attacking.

"You know what Minaka, I'm starting to like that boy" Karasuba said with a smile and imagined how he would look after his first kill.

"I thought you might, but let me tell you this now. First ,he's had sekirei cells injected in him so he is sturdier, faster and stronger than a regular human, not much but enough to make a difference. Second, he only get's that way when he's either scared or really angry but I trust this is not a problem with your talents." Minaka smirked and put a more recent video on now that he had gotten her undivided attention "And third, he is not to be harmed. Permanently"

"So I can whip him up, literally, to get the results seen on the video when I'm training. AND if he shows promise enough, I can take him with me on a mission?" Karasuba confirmed her what Minaka told her.

"Yes, but you only can have him for a year, his training is nowhere near its end and we need him training for other things later on. And for the first six months, only train him. Don't take him out of the tower." Minaka said and ended the discussion along with the video. Karasuba was smiling widely when she left the office and started her way down to fetch Minato.

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Hello, it's me again ^^ I was wondering if there were any beta readers interested in helping out with this and yes I was told that I can search it from the top of the page next to forum, but I thought why not ask here also while I try to get over my shyness and ask some one straight. Now I'm nearly done with getting the actual story rolling as this is a setup on what kind of Minato we would be dealing here but hey you got any ideas or complaints, shoot. ^^ I would appreciate an R&R but if you found this to be a Meh experience, that's fine too. But I still hope you enjoyed it ^^. Anyhoo, see you all later, while I start to cook up another Chapter.

-DraXXter-


	3. Chapter 3

I don't own Sekirei (sadly) or anything related to Sekirei

"Ah, gentleman. How is the treatment of our dear Ashikabi going?" Minato asked the scientists who were gathered around the table in the Medlab 3 conference room. They looked each other before the head of the project cleared his throat.

"Not so good sir, I'm sad to say. He's had now 5 treatments to add sekirei cells into his body but his body is starting to show rejection syndromes." The head of the Phoenix project said reading the case file in question. "Giving him anymore may cause his body to start shutting down or possibly make it break down on the spot." He said to his employer with nervous tone, he knew how well Minaka handled disappointment.

"How much sekirei cells are in his body at this moment? What effects the cells have had on his body to this point besides the obvious increase of strength." He asked while contemplating on firing the man or have him given to Minato as target practice. He smiled at the idea of Minato killing the idiot.

"Roughly 10% of his cells have been overrun by the implanted sekirei cells. We are fairly sure that the reason of rejection is because he IS an Ashikabi." The head of the project continued, breathing more easily as he saw Minaka smiling, that had to be a good sign.

"So the Ashikabi in him is rejecting the sekirei cells." Minato summarised, sounding more disappointed by the minute. "Is there anything to be done for this, perhaps possible regenerative treatments at Kamikura?" Minaka suggested the group.

"That wouldn't work sir. He would need the treatment too often for it be a viable option. The calculations show that his cellular break down is now counteracted by the natural healing properties in the sekirei cells. This means that he no longer has the healing powers of sekirei. Any injuries is now healing by his own power rather than the borrowed power of the cells, the only thing to healing that the cells are doing is keeping him alive until the natural healing is done." The resident expert on sekirei physiology said to the suggestion.

"As for the added strength from the cells, the response is not as big that was anticipated at the beginning of the treatment two weeks ago. Seems that he is now as strong as a normal adult human, which is amazing to its own right. He's reflexes however are fast, so the difference in strength is not that much of a crucial factor" The doctor following Minato's development said.

"So he will at best have muscle strength above average human adult and he is as fast as a master martial artist? Is this what you're saying?" Minaka asked in confirmation.

"Well, no sir. He will have the muscle strength of a professional bodybuilder when he turns 15, after that the gain is so insignificant that it doesn't matter, not against a sekirei. As for the reflexes, he is now able to land 12 hits in 8 seconds. That is spectacular for a boy of 13, but he can't keep up with that. After a while, about two minutes at the most, it drops to a hit per second. But we must keep in mind that these records don't show the power he has when his mental locks are off." The head of the project answered. Minaka dismissed the group and started to ponder upon his options.

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Benitsubasa knocked at Takami's lab door to tell her that Minato was no longer training with her, which she liked very much. She didn't like to hold back her punches or kicks and when she was training with Minato, she had to or he would've killed the boy.

"Come in" Takami said and continued to read the adjustment files of Takehito. He had quitted awhile ago along with sekirei # 1 as they had supposedly fallen in love. Takehito had said that he couldn't continue to torture the siblings of her wife and left. Minaka had been wise and decided to leave those two alone, Miya had the power to level Tokyo if she wanted. Only one who could stand against her were Karasuba and Takami didn't want to think about the consequences of that.

"Takami-sensei, I came to tell you that I can't keep my promise about helping Min-chan. We aren't sparring anymore." Benitsubasa said after she had opened the door and walked next to Takami's table.

"What do you mean Tsubasa? Did something happen to Minato?" Takami asked worriedly and concentrated her gaze on the young sekirei. Benitsubasa twitched under the gaze of the older woman, not liking the feeling that she was in trouble that it gave her. She shrugged her shoulders as she told that sensei had said that Minato would not be joining the training with them anymore. And truth to be told, she liked training with her new partner Haihane more. They could go all out and that was fun. Takami nodded that she understood and said that Benitsubasa should still help Minato if she saw him again. Benitsubasa agreed with a sigh, not relishing the idea of running into the boy again. She was wary at the boy after she had seen his eyes when he had had his anger episodes, they were like Karasuba-oneechans. And that scared her, as she knew Karasuba liked to give pain and/or suffering to others. Takami excused Benitsubasa who was dreaming about beating Haihane into submission and went to her computer to see if she could find out what Minaka had done and is planning to do with Minato.

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"At least try to hit me Min-chan, that flailing will get you nowhere." Karasuba said gently to Minato as she dodged another of Minato's slashes and hit him in the temple with the flat of her blade. The hit made Minato see stars as he was sent sprawling to the floor for the hundredth time.

"Really Min-chan. I'm dissapointed in you, after two weeks and you still an idiot. Time for your punishment." She said and slashed Minato across the chest with her nodachi. Minato shrieked at the burning sensation across his chest and clutched at the front of his gi covering his hand in blood.

"You're not being fair Karasuba-sama, I'm nowhere near your level at this" Minato whined at the woman and stood shakily to his feet, readying himself. Karasubas smile widened as her eyes flashed dangerously, the idiot was actually whining to her.

"Fair? There is nothing fair in a fight, you pathetic little human." Karasuba said and suddenly charged at Minato. Minato's eyes widened when Karasuba seemed to vanish. Suddenly he felt a new burning sensation in his back as the strike sent him face first to the floor. Shivering and whimpering on the floor, Minato tried to focus his eyes. Karasuba walked slowly to Minato and lifted him up from his hair and bringing his eyes to hers.

"Get up little boy, show me some guts" Karasuba said and tossed Minato to the wall leaving a bloody smear on it. Minato gasped at the pain flashing from his back from the hit, tried to steady his breathing and get up. Finding no strength in his legs or hands, he slumped to the floor. Karasuba growled in anger and with a few fast steps, she was again standing next to Minato.

"Still thinking about fairness of a fight boy?" She asked as she kicked Minato in the side. "There is only two options in a fight, weakling. A crushing victory or an utter defeat" Karasuba growled and emphasized her speech with a few sharp kicks. Minato coughed up blood and vomited. His breathing was wheezing as his eyes was straining to focus. He didn't know how or why but he seemed to be angering Karasuba quite often.

"Tell you what. Since you like lying on the floor like a worm, I'm going to count to five and then I'm gonna kill you" Karasuba said with a gentle and warm tone, like she was talking about giving Minato a hug. He turned his head and kept his eyes at Karasuba while slowly trying to stand. He was on his knees when Karasuba got to five. She was smiling as she started slowly walking toward Minato. 'She's really going to kill me, I don't want to die' he thought as he desperately tried to get up.

"Too late Min-chan." Karasuba said happily. She was now standing next to Minato and struck him across his chest again, carving a bloody cross.

"Aww, I missed" Karasuba said with fake sadness. Minato's face paled at the thought of impending death and his mind went blank. Karasuba brought her nodachi down, aiming at Minato's neck when the boy suddenly lifted his katana and guarded against the strike. Karasuba lifted her brows in delight as she saw Minato's eyes. They were eyes filled with blood lust and anger.

"Ahh, finally. Now we are getting somewhere" Karasuba said and started to grin. Minato growled and attacked her. He was faster and stronger than before, since he was now driven by his instincts. But much to Karasubas disappointment, the battle with the animal side of Minato was too short. It lasted only a couple of minutes before he fainted and he had only made a small nick in her arm. Karasuba growled at the lost chance of slowly cutting Minato to pieces. She called the medical staff at the training room and kicked Minato to the door before walking to the elevator. She was going to tell Minaka what a useless piece of human filth the boy was. After two weeks of abuse and mental anguish she had given Minato, she had seen the animal in the boy only five times. If she was going to spend another day with the boy, she would kill him and be done with it.

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Akitsu was feeling miserable again. The scientists had now concluded the tests about winging and had moved on to diseases. She was injected with god knows how many diseases and each one made her feel worse than the last. She hoped Minato would come by tomorrow, it had been so long since he was last there and it was the only good thing in her life. She was getting cold and hot flashes as she shivered in the bed so violently that the entire bed shook with her. Vomiting over the side of the bed Akitsu felt her consciousness fade, she gave into it and fell to a dreamless sleep.

When she woke up, she noticed that the scientists were already there. Gathering her courage, she asked the closest one if this was the day she could see Minato. The scientist looked at her and said that she wouldn't be seeing Minato again. She looked the scientist in shock, straining to understand what he had said. Her face was blank as they started the tests and she was heartbroken. Her only friend, the only nice person she knew in the world was taken from her. Something broke inside of her, and she closed off her heart. The scientist saw Akitsu's face grow into an emotionless mask as her eyes lost all light. They looked at each other and decided to see if that mask could be broken. It took them four days to decide that no matter what, Akitsu didn't scream, didn't whimper and most of all didn't care anymore.

It was only at night, when she was alone that she would cry for the loss of her friend. Only at night she allowed herself to hope that she would see him again. It was easier to lie to herself in the dark, as the dark was her only remaining joy. The only thing she didn't like in the darkness was that now there were pain in it. And this pain was much worse than the tests.

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"Listen to me little man, if I need to deal with that piece of trash again it will be the last of him." Karasuba said flatly to Minaka. Minaka smiled at Karasuba and waved his hand in dismissal.

"Now now Karasuba. Surely it's not that bad, hmm? You get to torment a small boy, I'm sure there is fun to be had" Minaka said to the sekirei.

Karasuba chuckled and agreed to the statement and continued. "That doesn't change the fact of him being trash and useless. He can't even fight for five minutes before passing out."

"Give it one more week Karasuba. If it's not working by then, come back and I'm sure we can come up with something. But now if you would excuse me, I have things to. A game to plan and bringing the will of the gods to earth, you know. The usual" Minako said and grinned at his computer screen.

"I want to kill something, the boy left a bad taste in my mouth" Karasuba said to Minaka who's grin got wider. "As so happens, I have a little something you could do" Minaka said and gave a folder to Karasuba. She took it and quickly read through it, her smile getting wider. When she finished the folder, the blood lust had risen in her eyes again as she chuckled at the impending death of pitiful humans.

"Just what I needed. You know how to entertain a woman, Minaka" Karasuba said and threw the folder back to the desk. Minaka nodded and started typing in his computer. Karasuba left the office smiling gently at Minaka's secretary while she wondered in how many pieces she could slice a human.

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Minaka woke up in a medical bed and was surprised that he was actually alive. Trying to sit up, he quickly gave up the idea when the movement gave him sharp pain. His chest, back and sides were aching and burning. Giving a deep sigh, he turned his head to the left and began to stare at the wall. 'Don't know how much longer I can't take this before she'll actually kill me. If only I could see mom again, this is not a normal school.' Minato didn't hear the door being opened and was startled when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Snapping his head to his right he saw that it was June.

"Hello June-san, how badly was I hurt?" Minato asked the woman, now being used of waking up in hospital beds. After a day with Karasuba, that would be the most propable place for him to wake up. June went to check his charts. Reading through them quickly, she said that the worst that had happened was a few broken ribs and blood loss. The wounds were not, surprisingly enough, even close of being fatal if you didn't count the blood loss. Minato was rather sure that Karasuba had given the wounds to him only for the purpose of making him suffer longer. Truth to be told, Minato was scared to death of the woman. She was quick to hurt him if he didn't do things like she wanted or protested to something she was doing. Minato's scar collection had gotten bigger after he started training swordsmanship with Karasuba. But he had gotten better with blades, although he still liked the wakizashi best. It fitted his hands better than the katana and didn't feel awkward like the batons.

June spent a few minutes with him, taking his blood sample and giving him an injection which she had said was to help him sleep and left. Minato was bored, he didn't like laying there with absolutely nothing to do. It was better than being cut up by Karasuba but he would have wanted to study, if nothing else. Suddenly he felt an odd sensation, like there was somebody staring at him. It was coming from outside his room. It was like there were a person outside, not by his door but in the corridor. He felt the odd presence coming closer and closer, and somehow he knew that whatever or whoever it was, it didn't mean him any harm.

As Minato was wondering what the feeling was, a androgynous figure walked the corridor next his room. It looked through the window in the door and was shocked. It was certain that whoever the boy was, he was not a sekirei. Even as he gave little of a presence of one. Deciding on not to investigate this further as It had problems of It's own, like what It was. A boy or a girl, not even the adjuster knew as It keeped changing genders, and It was pretty sure it had something to do with his sister. It hadn't seen her in a long time but somehow feel that she was lonely and hurt, maybe it was because they had been in the same pod. Shaking It's head, It continued on walking the corridor.

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After 4 days Minato was healed enough to leave the hospital room. He was quickly delivered back to the training wing he had shared with Karasuba. As he entered the door he saw Karasuba being immersed in her favourite pastime, sharpening her nodachi. Which usually led to the other thing she considered fun, tormenting Minato. He decided that not today, he was too tired to be teased and he just decided to let her speeches go in the other ear and out of the other.

"Come Min-chan, time for you to resume your duties of a punching bag." Karasuba said after she checked the blade and deemed it perfect. She rose from the chair she had sat on and walked towards the door to the training room they had used. Karasuba didn't look back as she was sure Minato was too scared to oppose her, and she was right. She walked straight to the other end of the room and waited for Minato to pick up a weapon. He went straight to the wakizashi.

"Hoo, you plan to fight me with a butter knife? You seem to be getting more moronic each passing day" Karasuba laughed and swished her weapon through the air before pointing it straight to Minato. "I will give you one chance, and one chance only filthy human. I will count to three and then I will attack. Guard or counterattack as you see fit, but I will kill you if you dont land even a single hit." She continued with a low and threatening voice. She didn't really like explaining her actions for a stupid little human like him but this was the only way to get the darker side of the boy to surface, the only thing which could give her a brief distraction before she grew bored at the regular life. She couldn't wait for the plan to start so she could go outside freely and start killing. It didn't matter to her that she was killing her siblings, only thing that mattered was the act of taking a life.

Minato frowned at the remark about the butterknife and forced his leg's to stop shaking. So far the plan of not listening to the rambles of that woman was not going so well. Taking a deep breath which still made him wince, he brought the wakizashi horizontally before his face. He saw Karasubas mad grin and remembered the beating she gave him last time. He felt his consciousness fade and grew desperate. 'Not now, now is really a bad time. If this happens now, I'm sure as dead' Minato thought to himself and then he felt calm, calmer than ever before. Karasubas pupils widened slightly when she actually _felt_ Minato's blood lust rise and then she saw his eyes. They were black. Grinning, she launched herself at Minato.

Minato was grinning too by the time the blade of his wakizashi met the blade of Karasuba. She laughed and threw a backhand punch. Minato was too slow to dodge it and his lip split as he was sent to the floor. Growling in anger, he jumped up from the floor and ran towards Karasuba. Karasuba slashed her weapon across Minato's chest and was happily surprised when he parried the strike and kicked her in the stomach.

"Now this is starting to be fun, isn't it Min-chan" She asked still with a gentle voice and absent mindedly guarded his attack and gave a sharp punch which broke Minato's nose. He spitted the blood in his mouth to her eyes as an attempt to blind her and slashed the wakizashi down, cutting open Karasubas black t-shirt.

"Getting frisky Min-chan?" Karasuba asked and kneed Minato in the chest as she jumped over him. Minato gasped at the sudden impact and slashed his weapon behind his back, only to feel a steel like grip on his wrist. Suddenly his hand was pulled out and upwards while his wrist was twisted, making his hand go limp. He dropped the wakizashi and was thrown on the floor. Karasuba walked next to the boy and stomped his head to the ground. Hearing growling from under her boot, Karasuba kicked Minato in stomach. This made him vomit and when he lifted his head, Karasuba saw that the shock had awoken the boy.

"What happened" Minato asked and looked around in total confusion written in his face. Slowly rising up, he felt throbbing in his face. Bringing a hand to his face, he soon found out that his nose was broken and lip was split. Other than that, he felt fine. Looking at the other side of the room he saw Karasuba standing with a grin and for some odd reason, a slashed t-shirt. 'Did I do that? No, impossible.' Minato thought to himself, trying to figure out what happened. He had been calm and suddenly he woke up vomiting, and asking Karasuba got you nowhere.

"You finally did something. That's what happened. Come, we've got work to do" Karasuba said and turned in her heels to leave even more confused Minato behind.

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"Atta boy Minato, that's how you work it" Minaka said playfully, happy that his plan of adding aditional aggressor genes made the fighter in Minato come out faster. He had to admit, Karasuba was quite proficient in waking up ones survival instinct. Because Minato had been injected with sekirei cells, his survival instinct was geared towards fighting the threat and not running from it. Minato's kind and gentle nature had been pushed aside when his judgement was impaired, meaning a stage of high anger or fear. You could include intoxication and arousal to this but it was not in Minaka's plan to let Minato near alcoholic beverages and sex was out of the question. Minaka needed a superb Ashikabi to show the world that his vision of godhood was real and not just madman's fantasy. Minaka was amazed that even with his genius mind, he wasn't able to predict Minato's advancement throug the Phoenix Project. He had been forced to change his plans time and time again. Minato's innate lack of cruelty made him give gene therapy to make him more aggressive. And even that hadn't worked they he had hoped, only when the adrenaline levels were rising in Minato's blood stream did he's aggression rise. Minato had been quick to learn combat skills with and without weapons, even if he had altered Minato's brain with the sekirei devices. Sadly it wasn't able to make him anything more than human but he was now a stronger and faster human. He had implemented the sekirei cells to increase Minato's strength considerably but that hadn't worked, it had made him more difficult to kill than regular human and almost as fast as half-trained sekirei but by no means was Minato able to give sekirei a run for their money. He had hoped that Karasuba would have been able to give him more combat experience as she was a cruel bitch of a sekirei, but that had backfired since the kindness of Minato was again the deciding factor here. Minato would be ready to wing a sekirei, if he could perform his next task admirably. The first kill of the boy would be deciding factor at this test. If he didn't break down from it, he would be ready and Minaka had decided to let him wing Akitsu as a reward. If not, Karasuba had been given orders to dispose of the boy quietly. Minaka had no need of failures running around.

Takami was at her own apartment, she was looking a picture of her and her children. With a heavy sigh she put the picture down and poured more scotch. She had been drinking for hours now but the scotch just didn't seem to work, no comfortable buzz and certainly no feelings of joy. She had just found out that not only was Minato with Karasuba, Minaka had given him harsher gene therapy. The asswipe was trying to overcome human limit's, not caring what happened in the process. Takami took the picture to her hands again and looked down on a happy and smiling Minato when the tears started falling down again.

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"Karasuba-sama, what are we doing here?" Minata asked with a quiet voice, still being quite shaken by the way they had gotten there. Karasuba had grabbed him right after the training battle they have had, not giving Minato time to process at what actually happened. She had walked Minato to the roof of the tower and told him to hold on to her tightly, he had obeyed quickly to not anger the woman and that was when he got his biggest shock yet. Karasuba had jumped down to the next house's roof like it was nothing and the speed she had kept was frightening. Minato was half sure that Karasuba was not human. It had taken them half an hour to reach a small forest near the northern edge of the city and there Karasuba stopped next to a small complex. It was surrounded by a fence with barbed wire top and two men at the gate. There were only two structures inside the fence and at the doors of both was one man standing. All of them had guns.

"We're doing work Min-chan." Karasuba said with her normal gentle voice. It scared Minato how she could talk so sweetly while being the cruelest person he had ever known. Karasuba made him wait at the bushes as she was going to go talk to the men. Minato wondered at why they were there to talk to the men, and in the middle of the night of all times. Minato's eyes widened in horror when he saw that Karasuba had just walked to the men in the gate and killed them both. He vomited at the sight of blood and the sickening wet sounds the body's made when Karasuba hacked them in to pieces with a smile on her face. She turned to Minato and gestured him to follow her with blood splatters on her face, Minato was too scared to not obey. As he got to the gate, Karasuba had already killed the two men standing at the doors and went in to the smaller house. He heard a few screams from the inside and a gurgling sound from the man at the door.

"W-Why did you kill them K-Karasuba-s-sama." Minato asked the woman when she came out of the small guard post, blood dripping from her sword.

"Because it's fun, Min-chan" Karasuba said happily and removed the blood from her sword with a flick of her wrist. She quickly turned to the other door and briskly walked to it, opening it with the tip of her sword and smiled. She smelled fear, it was such a good smell. Silently she walked inside and Minato followed her, not wanting to stay outside alone. Even if she did scare him, she was familiar to him. Inside the structure was quiet, and Minato saw Karasuba waiting for him next to a door. Not wanting to anger the woman by making her wait longer, he hurriedly walked next to her. Karasuba opened the door and Minato saw a room with three beds, and in all of them was a figure sleeping.

"Go on, Min-chan. It's your turn now" Karasuba said quietly putting her lips to Minato's ear. He jerked his head back and looked Karasuba with a terrified look.

"I can't do that Karasuba-sama. I-I don't want to k-k-kill anyone" Minato stuttered to her and took a step back. Karasuba sighed, grabbed his shoulder and tossed him inside the room. She entered the room after him and closed the door.

"Now now Min-chan, this is work time" She said and took Minato's hand and led him next to the bed. Minato looked down and saw a woman, maybe slightly older than his mother sleeping in the bed. He turned his head to Karasuba with a silent plea in his eyes. Karasuba only smiled and pulled Minatos wakizashi out of it's sheath and placed it in Minato's hand.

"Here we go, one down." Karasuba said and forced Minato's hand slowly down, pressing the tip of the blade to the womans throat. The woman's eyes opened in horror and she stared Minato in the eye as she started to silently whimper. Karasuba patted Minato's head and forced him to plunge the wakizashi through the throat of the woman. She silently clawed at the blade and gurgled as the blood was starting to drown her. Minato twiched and suddenly drove his elbow to Karasuba's chest. Ripping the wakizashi out of the throat and tried to strike Karasuba. Karasuba only shaked her head at the clear disappointment of Minato's actions. She gave a slight sigh, and flashed her sword and pushed it through Minato's stomach.

"I guess this is it then Min-chan. It was my greatest displeasure to ever being in the same room as you" Karasuba said and kicked Minato from the blade of her sword. Minato slammed to the wall, dropped down and stayed there. Karasuba smiled as she saw the other two figures being awake and too afraid to move from the beds.

"Don't you just hate the rebellious phase of children?" She asked them with a chuckle and killed them.

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"How did it go?" Minaka asked as Karasuba walked inside his office.

"Minato attacked me." Was her only reply as she threw a box of discs and folders to his table and sat at the edge of his table. Minaka nodded and opened the case file from his computer. With a few clicks from the mouse, big letters went across the folder stating that the experiment had been a failure.

"It's a shame, I had such high hopes for him" Minaka said regretfully and proceeded to go through the box Karasuba had brought. "You can go now Karasuba, I'll call if I have anything else." Minaka continued and emptied the box into his desk. She nodded and went to the apartment she had in the tower for a well deserved bath.

It was the next day when Takami found out what had happened. She had been bothered by the looks her colleagues and when she angrily asked what was the matter with them, they had opened the file from the computer to show her. She had fallen to the floor in shock and after a while she rose and said she needed to go lay down for a while.

"MINAKA, I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU. YOU MOTHERFUCKER, WHAT RIGHT DID YOU HAVE TO KILL MY SON" She screamed when she entered Minakas office with a gun in her hand. She shooted at the chair of Minaka, which she found was empty. Minaka grabbed her hand from behind her and took the gun away.

"Takami-kun, I did not kill Minato. From what I heard, he did it himself" He said and tossed the gun to the guard that had came running from the sound of the gun. Takami dropped to her knees and started crying.

"He was your son too bastard. Why did you have to have him killed." She wailed at the insane man that had taken her son away from her.

"Calm down Takami-kun. I did no such thing. And who cares if he was my son. He was a failure and nothing will change that. No pick yourself up and return to your work, the sekirei plan waits for no-one" Minaka said as he sat back to the chair and started planning for the third stage of sekirei plan. He had gotten the outlines for the first two done, and depending on the adjustments was the official starting date and goals fo the two stages.

"I quit, Fuck you and your plan. I will not help you anymore in this." Takami said and rose from the floor. She started making her way out when Minaka told her that there was still one person he could try out the Phoenix Project. Takami froze and turned to Minaka.

"Don't you dare Minaka. You will not take Yukari from me. I don't care what it takes but if you go anywhere near her, you are a dead man. And nothing will stop me from killing you." Takami said with a snarl.

"I'm afraid you are leaving me with no other alternative. If you're leaving, I need an incentive for you to stay. And if Yukari was here with you, that would be for the better, would it not?" He asked happily, knowing that he had Takami in a corner.

"Fine, I will do anything you say if you leave Yukari alone. I need a vacation, I need to tell Yukari about an accident her brother was in and start planning a funeral." Takami said emotionless. She was too taxed and simply felt numb. Minaka agreed and gave her two weeks off, as the sekirei who were now out of the stasis had been adjusted.

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He didn't know where he was or how he got there but the one thing he did know was that his situation was not good. He had woken next to the woman he had been forced to kill and when he had tried to get up, he had found a stab wound in his stomach. How he was able to survive that, he didn't know. He forced himself to rise and leave the place befora Karasuba would come back and finish the job she had started. He wondered, as he slowly walked the through forest clutching the wound, did she make a mistake or did she let him live. 'Focus Minato, you need to get to a hospital.' He berated himself and tried to pick up speed. After what felt like an eternity of walking, he found himself leaning into a large wooden fence. Deciding to walk along with it in hopes of finding help, he started walking again. 'Oh, this is not good. Mom I'm sorry I didn't get the chance to talk to you again' was his last thought as he passed out.

She had the small grunts and gasps only faintly but had decided to go check what it was. Entering the backyard of the Inn, her eyes went over every inch of the yard and found nothing. Just as she was about to turn back, there was a small thud from the far corner of the yard. Her eyes darted there but saw nothing, except... No, it was impossible. That madman wouldn't let her sister out for atleast 3 years, but the presence around that fence. There was something oddly familiar and at the same time really strange about it. She had to go check what it was. Calling Takehito, she went to the corner of the fence and jumped at the tree next to it. Once again scanning the surroundings she saw a small boy leaning against the fence. He was bleeding badly and she was amazed at how he could be alive. No human should be alive after that much blood loss. She shouted to Takehito to bring an first aid kit and quickly as she jumped down next to the boy. He was unconscious and breathing barely, she ripped the shirt open and when she saw the wound she was shocked. She couldn't figure out how he could have gotten there with that wound, never mind the blood loss.

"I got the kit Miya, where did you go?" Takehito shouted from the backyard and let a startled yelp when his wife kicked a hole in the fence and came through it with a small boy in her arms.

"We need to take him to the doctor now Takehito, I don't think he has much longer left." Miya said with a hurried tone and carried the boy to the table in the backyard. Takehito followed to give her the kit when he saw the boys face.

"Just patch him up Miya, there is no need for a doctor. He won't die from that wound, Minaka has made sure of that." He said grimly and opened the aid kit so his wife could take whatever she needed from it. Miya snapped her toward Takehito at the mention of Minaka.

"What do you mean dear? Surely you see that he needs medical attention." She said and turned back to the task at hand, her hands quickly wrapping the boys abdomen with bandages.

"He's the perfect Ashikabi I told you Minaka was trying to create." Takehito said and sat next to his wife. Miya's eyes widened with shock and for a moment she stopped bandaging the boy. When Minato groaned in pain she snapped out of her thoughts and finished the bandagin.

"So he's the one. What do you want to do now Takehito? Do you want to return him to that man?" Miya asked and looked her husband straight in the eye. Disgust was clear in her voice about the idea of giving the insane man his toy back.

"No, unless he want's to of course. I'm not a kidnapper, but I think it's best to wait for him to wake up. Don't you?" He said and for the first time in his life wished he smoked, as they said it calmed the nerves. Miya only smiled and nodded in response before scooping the boy in her arms again. She went inside the Inn her husband had bought and settled the boy into their bed. yes, it was better to wait for him to wake up and tell his story. Only then could she decide what to with him.

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So here's another one, and boy did this give me a headache. I was trying so hard to integrate all my ideas in this chapter so I could start prepping for the later on stuff but noo, my comp decided to start it's crash fest so this might be a little jerky at times. I tried to fix it but there still might be some odd ends there :D

Also thank you all who have read this story and since there is a number of you, I assume you have liked it. And I know i've been dancing around the subject of who Minato wings first and honestly, I don't know. I used my favorite three sekireis to toy with the idea a bit but got no solid plans as of yet. You can suggest your own favorite, who knows I might use it ^^

Anyhoo, have fun and please R&R if you got the time

-DraXXter-


	4. Chapter 4

I do not own sekirei or anything related to sekirei

"Honey, he's shifting around in the bed again." Miya said to her husband and continued cooking. Takehito nodded in response and went to their bedroom which had been converted to a treatment room. Walking to the bed, he gently placed his hand on the boys chest and held him in place. He was thinking about placing him in restraints to stop him from moving and causing the wound open again.

Takehito would have wanted to know what Minaka had done to the boy, it must've been something very heavy in terms of gene therapy or something similar to make the boy live while having that much damage done to him. He confirmed that the boy had calmed down before exciting the room. If only the blood samples would be processed sooner, he thought as he entered the kitchen. This was one of the times that Takehito had regrets on severing all ties with M.B.I and the madman running it, the blood samples would have been processed much quicker with their equipment. He had to settle with the local care center and the free time the labs had, if they had any. With a heavy sigh he hugged his wife and kissed her neck. Miya relaxed in the arms of her husband and stated that dinner was ready.

"How was he?" She asked while setting the table, not forgetting the jug filled with nutrients in warm water for the boy. She hoped he would wake soon, if not for any other reason than the fact that feeding him would be easier.

"The same, I really think we need to tie him down to the bed. All that moving and the wound will re-open." Takehito replied and started to fill his plate. Miya glared at her husband.

"No! He is going to be shaken enough without being tied to the bed when he wakes." She said with a tone that brooked no argument. Takehito agreed with a sigh, as he knew that Miya's answer to his suggestion will not change.

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"Why did you kill me? I had done nothing to you." The woman asked as blood spurted out of the hole in her throat. Walking backwards Minato only shaked his head and tried to explain that he hadn't wanted to kill her. The woman only walked forward with a knife in her hand.

"No, please. You have to listen to me. Karasuba-sama made me do it." Minato pleaded and felt himself being backed to a wall. The woman smiled and more blood started flowing.

"It's time you pay!" The woman shouted and drove the knife in Minato's stomach. He screamed in pain and tried to pull the knife out. The dead woman laughed and stabbed him again, splattering blood all over Minato's face. He felt burning pain and sharp tugs as the knife was constantly being plunged in his abdomen. With a final look at his attacker face, he passed out.

Minato sprung up and instantly let out a moan of pain as the protest of such movement sprung out of his stomach. Miya and Takehito heard the moaning and Miya started to make her way to the bedroom while gesturing to Takehito that he could continue sleeping. Minato heard movement from the outside of the room he was in. With a quick glance he saw that he was in a kingsize bed and the room had two big closets and a small vanity in the corner. Only light source was the moon rays coming from the sliding window doors next to the vanity, and behind there was a fenced backyard. He felt like his head was filled with cobwebs and when he tried to get up, the pain shot up from his stomach again. Looking down, he saw that he had been bandaged. He was wondering who had helped him when the door to the room opened.

As Miya opened the room, she saw that the boy was sitting in the edge of the bed. He had turned his head towards her and had instinctive fear in his eyes. Slowly lifting her hands to show him that she meant no harm, Miya entered the room. Minato's eyes followed her intently as she walked to the vanity and seated herself in the small stool in front of it.

"Where am I?" He asked with a quiet voice, still keeping his eyes on the woman who had entered the room. He didn't know what it was but something about her unnerved him, she reminder him about Karasuba.

"You are Maison Izumo, an inn owned by me and my husband." She answered calmly and continued to stare at the boy, she was tempted to ask why he almost felt like a sekirei but thought that it would be better to ask about it later. The boy was obviously nervous about her presence and distressed about waking up in an unknown place.

"H-How did I get here?" He continued and clutched at his stomach as the throbbing pain started again.

"You were lying outside, unconscious. We saw that you needed help and brought you in and treated to your wounds." She said and raised from the stool, meaning to check up on the bandages as she saw the boy clutch the wound. Minato jerked back when she rose and fell back to the bed.

"There is nothing you need to fear from me." Miya said gently and stopped moving. Minato looked at her, not replying to her words. She sighed and sat back down to show him that she truly ment no harm. "What is your name child?" She asked while crossing her hands into her lap.

"Minato, and thank you for treating me." He answered solemnly. She seemed nice but he had learned his lesson, he needed to be wary about the people who gave him this funny feeling. The last one who gave this feeling had stabbed him, or at least he couldn't figure out who else but Karasuba could have done that. It bugged Minato that he had blacked out again, right after when Karasuba had forced his hand to drive the wakizashi through the throat of that woman. The thought of that brought his nightmare back to his mind and that made him shiver.

"You're welcome Minato. You can use the blankets if you are feeling cold." Miya said. She was wondering how this boy could be this perfect Ashikabi, as he was clearly too young. And there was no feeling of power in his character. Minato shaked his head at the suggestion of the woman and remained silent.

"Miya, what's wrong?" Takehito asked and entered the room only to see that his wife was sitting in front of the vanity staring at the boy who was staring her right back. Turning his head between Miya and the boy, he waited for an answer. Not getting one, he walked to the boy and placed his hand on his shoulder inorder to get his attention. Minato had been too focused on the woman giving him this funny feeling that he hadn't heard what the man had asked or how he had moved next to him. He suddenly felt something grab his shoulder, and he was sure it was Karasuba coming back to finish the job. His consciousness shut down like a lamp.

Takehito noticed that he had went limp for a second and then the boy surprised him and Miya wife. Minato twisted the arm that had been on his shoulder and kicked the owner of it, not caring about the pain shooting from his stomach. Takehito was slammed to the closet and the door cracked at the force of the impact. Miya was a blur of motion, she jumped in front of Takehito and kicked the boy. Minato grabbed the leg and drove his elbow down to her knee, attempting to break it. Miya pulled her leg back and gave Minato a punch in the head which sent him flying backwards, right through the sliding doors and into the backyard. The punch had knocked him out for good and he stayed laying on his back while blood flowed from his nose.

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Miya was about to go after him when Takehito grabbed her at the elbow. He shaked his head and told Miya that it wasn't the boys fault. "What do you mean Takehito? He attacked you." Miya said with anger rising in her voice.

"Well yes and no Miya. Remember when I told you that he was supposed to be the perfect Ashikabi?" Takehito asked her while walking towards the boy. Miya answered yes and eyed the boy cautiously, ready to kick him in the head the moment he showed signs of attacking Takehito again.

"Minaka has been playing inside his head. There are god knows how many conditioned responses drilled in his mind and because of that he is a kind of time bomb. But if sudden contact is one of the triggers, I need to wipe his memory." Takehito said grimly and lifted the boy in his arms. He was angry at Minaka for destroying the mind of such a young boy.

"Wait, what do you mean by that?" Miya asked her husband in confusion. Takehito placed Minato back on the bed before answering. "I mean that Minaka has used hypno or as it is commonly known suggestive therapy to alter his reactions to his surroundings. And the only way to be sure that all of them will be cleared out of his mind is a memory wipe. The only bad thing is that I don't have the equipment here to do that. M.B.I is the only place with equipment capable of doing that, although I probably could whip up something similar on my own if I had the materials." Takehito said, thinking about his options as he did not want to give the boy back to Minaka.

"I know you hate M.B.I almost as much as I do, but don't you think it would be better to give this boy back. I don't want him wrecking our lives." Miya said to Takehito and put her hands around his waist. Takehito shaked his head. "I'm not going to give Minaka another chance to ruin this boys life." He said and kissed his wife in the forehead. "Surely you understand, don't you?" Miya nodded and told that the boy's name was Minato before going to the kitchen to make some coffee, she had a feeling they were going to need it.

Usually Takehito's planning took several hours and lot's of coffee. Takehito decided to wait in the room for Minato to awaken again, to ask him who he was and what had happened to him. Seemed that Miya was not able to talk to him before the incident had happened. The fact that his name was Minato was the only thing that they knew about him, that and being an experimental Ashikabi which did not lessen the concern Takehito was feeling towards the boy. Being a toy for Minaka's amusement was not something any innocent deserved.

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Minaka had ordered her to check what could be done to Akitsu but that didn't mean she liked being near the young sekirei. It always reminded her about the time when she saw Minato and Akitsu smiling when they were sleeping in eachothers arms and Akitsu knew that she was somehow related to Minato. After the third time she went to her room to see what adjustments had been done during the day and what was in store for her, she had asked why Minato wasn't able to see her. It had hurted Takami to see the faint hope Akitsu had had when she was told that Takami would be responsible for the rest of her tests. Akitsu had come to trust her when she had yelled at the others for trying to break Akitsu when she had become unresponsive, and had kicked them out when they had asked what it mattered what happened to the failure of a sekirei anyway.

And now she had to crush the little girls hope of seeing Minato again. Takami hated herself for not being able to do anything. When Yukari was told that her brother had died in a accident, it had devastated her not to mention the shock Takami had when Yukari blamed her for the death of her brother. "I'm very sorry Akitsu, but you won't be seeing Minato again. He had an accident and lost his life but I'm sure that he would've wanted you to move on." Takami said quietly to Akitsu and held her hand, trying to lessen the pain she was feeling. Akitsu just sat in her bed and Takami saw how the mask grew back on. Takami hugged her and promised to see her again tomorrow. Akitsu didn't respond to her words or her leaving the room.

The loss of her son was starting to get to Takami's nerves, she smoked more often now and every night ended with a bottle of scotch at her bedside table. She had taken the habit of watching Minato's training videos since that was all she had left that showed Minato moving. She had no photo's of her children after the time she had joined M.B.I.

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Minato woke up a few hours later and was baffled by the state of the room. One of the closets had its door broken and the sliding doors were broken. Slowly rising out of the bed remembering that he had a wound in his abdomen, he walked to the door and opened it. Seeing nobody and hearing something clattering near, he decided to find the source of the noise. Then he looked down and decided to put on something, walking around naked in a strange house was a really bad idea. Looking in to the closet he found all he needed, black shorts that were to his knees and a white t-shirt with a blue flame on the left. Not wanting to hunt for underwear as the idea of someone else's underwear was slightly disgusting to him. 'Now, let's see where I am' He thought and went to the small hallway he had seen before. The sound had stopped so he decided to wander around the house until he saw something or someone. As he walked the hallway he saw that the yard was on his right hand side and there was a small porch before it. To his left was a mid-sized room and with a T.V there, he was sure it was a living room.

As he was thinking about where he should go next, he heard talking from other side of the room. Going over to the sliding door, he opened it to a crack and tried to see who were talking. Minato saw the woman who had given him a weird feeling and a man who was somewhat familiar looking. He knew that he had to thank these nice people who obviously had helped him, and even if the woman gave him a funny feeling when he was around her didn't mean that he should be rude. Deciding on knocking the frame so he wouldn't surprise the two or accidentally eavesdrop on the conversation they were having.

"He's got sekirei cells in him Miya, that's why you feel the presence. I would sure as hell like to know what Minaka was thinking when he injected him with those." Takehito finished and closed the file he was holding. Then he heard knocking coming from the living room. Turning his head, he saw Minato standing there with some of his clothes on.

"Hello Minato, I see you're up and apparently making yourself right at home." Takehito said and pointed at the clothes Minato was wearing when a confused look rose on his face. He blushed at the remark and nodded. Miya chuckled and shaked her head before kissing Takehito to the cheek and made her way to the kitchen. She was sure Minato would be hungry after not eating for the time he had been here. Miya trusted Takehito and didn't worry about Minato attacking him anymore.

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"Thank you for helping me." Minato said and took a sip of the tea he had been offered.

"No need to thank Minato, I never turn down anyone in need and you were in need of help. Quite badly infact, which brings me to my question. What happened to you and why?" Takehito asked staring Minato intensely. Minato stiffened to this question.

"I-I was careless in my studies. I had an accident and honestly that's all I remember." Minato answered, speaking a half-truth as he was sure that the man would think he was lying if he told him the truth. Takehito nodded and kept his eyes on Minato.

"It's no surprise that you don't remember much, you lost a lot of blood and the wound was quite serious. Luckily my wife is good in first aid and was able to help you." He said and wondered how much would be safe to ask before one of the locks in Minato's mind would snap as a precaution. As he was about to ask more from Minato, there was a big crash coming from the kitchen and the sudden sound startled the boy. Takehito saw the pupils widen in Minato's eyes as the shaking on his hands stopped.

"Miya, come quick. He's having an attack again." Takehito shouted and started to back away from the boy slowly. Minato stood just as slow, never taking his eyes off of Takehito. He growled at the man and started walking towards him. Miya ran from the kitchen and positioned herself between Minato and her husband. Minato stopped, cocked his head at the appearance of Miya and with a slightly slurred voice asked. "Nee-chan?"

Miyas eyes widened at the remark and turned her head to Takehito. He shooked his head to tell her that he didn't know what this was about. Miya looked back at Minato and took a step slowly towards Minato. Minato just stood there and looked at her with a confusion.

"Be careful Miya, being scared is one of the triggers. And his pupils grow bigger which means that this is an override reaction, most likely from brainwashing." Takehito said to Miya and kept himself behind her, it was rather easy to see that Minato didn't see Miya as a threat but a sister of sorts. This was probably a response from the sekirei cells, and this could be helpful. If they could retrain Minato for not automatically attack in this state, there would be no reason to wipe his mind.

Miya nodded to her husband and kept slowly walking towards Minato and when she got next to him, she opened her arms. Minato looked at Miya and hesitantly walked to her and hugged her while placing his head to her chest. Miya closed her arms around the boy and said it was okay, nothing here was going to hurt him and he didn't need to be so afraid. Minato blinked and suddenly backed away from her in a hurry with a blush on his face.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what happened. Please I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have done that." He stuttered and pleaded to now confused Miya. As she turned her head to Takehito again, she saw that he had his thinking face on. Knowing not to ask him anything just yet, Miya turned his attention to Minato again.

"It's okay Minato, just relax. There is no need to ask for forgiveness. You have done nothing wrong." Miya said reassuringly. Takehito had said that fear was one of the things that made the boy go crazy and not wanting to make things worse, she thought it would be best if she could make him calm down more. Minato relaxed a bit at her words and settled himself back to the table again.

"I know that this is a bit rude, but who are you?" Minato asked and tried to calm his nerves by drinking the now cold tea. Miya looked confused and then she remembered that he hadn't actually told him hers or Takehito's name.

"My name is Miya, and this is my husband Takehito." She said and pointed to the man who was still in his own world.

"Thank you again Miya-neesan, for helping me." Minato said and tried to bow, but his stomach gave him its objections.

"Think nothing of it Minato, we don't turn down any one in need." Miya said warmly, now being sure that Minato was not going to attack anyone anytime soon. "Speaking of which, what were you doing last night when I came to check up on you?" She continued and stared Minato while drinking her tea.

"I don't really remember last night all that much. I remember you coming in and saying that this is an inn but that's about it." Minato answered and turned his eyes from the stare Miya was giving him. Takehito grabbed Miya's shoulder and gestured her to follow him. Miya asked Minato to wait a bit and went with Takehito.

"Don't bother asking him about what happened last night, I'm pretty sure he doesn't remember anything." Takehito said quietly and looked at Minato who was frowning. It angered Takehito to know that Minaka had messed the boy up and good. If he had been injected with sekirei cells as the blood samples had suggested, the mixed signals human nature, Minato's nature and the more aggressive sekirei nature would be clashing in his head all the time. And this is why, Takehito had arrived to the conclusion of Minato losing his memory everytime the sekirei cells would be victorious. Taking a glance of the file again, he saw that the imbalances of Minato's blood count ment that Minaka had indeed been trying to make Minato into a half sekirei. The only question remained that how successful he had been in this attempt. Walking back to the living room, Takehito smiled at Minato and seated opposite of him while Miya went back to the kitchen to finish cooking.

"So Minato, dinner should be ready soon and I was wondering what have you planned to do after dinner?" Takehito asked.

"I.. I haven't really thought about it. Can.. Can I stay here please? I don't have any money but I can work here for my living." Minato pleaded Takehito. He was pleased that Minato would like to stay in the inn but wanted to make sure that he had thought the thing through.

"Don't you have any family to go to? What about your parents or grandparents?" He asked Minato and smiled to him. Trying to keep the boy from getting anxious so that he wouldn't feel the need to defend himself, as that would drive the programmed responses back to the surface.

"N-no, I have no family left. My mother doesn't want to see me anymore and I don't know my dad. I have a sister but she's better off without me." Minato said with heavy sadness in his voice as he remembered how the man had said that his mother told him not to come home and not really wanting to see Yukari knowing that he had been a part of murder. Takehito stood up and walked next to Minato.

"It's alright Minato, you can stay here." He said gently and squeezed Minato's shoulder. Minato stifled a sniffle and thanked Takehito with a low voice. Suddenly Minato's stomach growled and Takehito laughed at the boy's apparent embarrassment. Soon after that Miya came to the room with a tray. Minato got a light lunch as Takehito said that his stomach wasn't up to eating heavy foods just jet, as he was still healing. He nodded and started to eat his chicken and rice plate while drooling at the beef pot the other two was eating.

"So Miya, it seems that Minato is going to stay with us from now on." Takehito said in an off-handed manner. Miya spluttered at this and almost choked on her food while Takehito looked at her with confusion.

"Was it something I said honey?" He asked and handed her a napkin. Miya said that they would discuss it further after the dinner and smiled to Minato in reassurance that everything was fine, and he needed not to worry about it. Takehito suggested Minato to taking a bath as they would talk with Miya in depth about he staying in Maison Izumo. Minato agreed and left the couple to their talk.

"What are you thinking Takehito? He could attack at anytime if he stays here. It's a different thing that he's here until he's healed but staying indefinitely, that's a whole another set of problems." Miya rambled and walked in a short circle, she really didn't like anything or anyone threatening her life with Takehito. Not now when they had gotten their life in order, not needing to do M.B.I's bidding at every turn and finally being able to start doing something concrete in helping her sisters who were still under the despotism of Minaka.

"It's not that bad Miya. You saw how he acted when you came in to the room while he had this latest, let's call it an episode. He clearly recognized you as family. I have no doubt that Minaka has injected him with enough of sekirei cells to be actually controlled in that state by a powerful sekirei. And you my dear, are as powerful as sekirei come. We can save that boy, and just because he is Minaka's pet project along with the Sekirei Plan, is not a reason to abandon him." Takehito said seriously and stared at Miya. Miya flinched as she saw his aura flaring at the thought of kicking the boy out of Maison Izumo, she didn't know how a human like Takehito could make such a menacing aura but she really didn't care. All she wanted was for that aura to disappear and the fastest way was not to object to anything Takehito said when he had that look. It was almost as a devil was appearing behind him and staring her down instead.

"Well if you are really really sure. Then I guess it is okay." Miya agreed and hugged him. "I just don't want anything to interrupt in our happiness Takehito. I was known to be fearless but the thought of losing you, scares me out of my mind." She said quietly.

"Don't worry dear. I'm not going anywhere and while you are here, I have nothing to be afraid of. Not Minato or M.B.I, you know this." Takehito said gently and kissed the woman on top of her head. And so Minato was able to stay in the inn.

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Sorry for making it short but this was difficult to write. It was turning into a pointless discussion board between the three, and I guess it still is a little that way. Honestly I tired to write the ending here for about four times and this was the best way of showing that Minato was broken, and Takehito knew he was broken just not how broken. And yes, Miya really is a different character altogether but I figured that she was different while Takehito lived and went with that.

If you think I could have done better here, please let me know. I appreciate every time someone points out what I have done poorly and how to improve on it. And I'm thinking about doing some timeskipping in the next chapter, to try to get the story going. I know this has been a bit slow but I just couldn't help it. Hopefully you all will like this.

Please R&R if you have the time and sorry for this rant being a tad long.

-DraXXter-


	5. Chapter 5

I do not own sekirei or anything related to sekirei

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"Hard to believe it's been three years already." Minato silently said to himself as he was laying in his favorite spot in Maison Izumo, the roof. He had taken the habit of looking stars at night since it calmed him, the serenity of the open sky and quietness of the night was what he relished after each day. The first year in the inn had been tough, as he was still having his episodes. He had strained to understand when Takehito had explained that his amnesia wasn't amnesia but the results of an animal side of him rising due to Minaka's brainwashing and gene therapy. Takehito had slowly brought him in control of himself with the help of Miya and her emotion control exercises.

It had been after that, in the second year of his stay. Miya had spotted him going through the motions of his wakizashi training in the backyard, when she had asked if he would like to train with her. Of course he had agreed, as he wanted to keep something familiar with him, even if it ment the routines from his brutal training so he wouldn't feel lost or without direction, but even that had had it's troubles. More than a few times had his animal side risen during training when his mind linked Karasuba and Miya. Miya was just ast deadly if not deadlier with her sword, so Minato's mind kept combining the two. Fortunately Miya didn't resort in hacking him to pieces but calmly, either knocking him out or just making him unable to move, would bring him back from the dark recesses of his mind. As the two had continued to train, Minato had noticed that even when his animal self did rise, he was sometimes able to control the beast within. He had told the news to Takehito and Miya, and they had shared his joy of starting to be able to control himself.

"Minato-san. Come down and eat, the food is ready!" A man's voice shouted from the yard and he heard steps going back inside the inn.

"Coming Kagari-san!" Minato shouted back and started to make his way down. It had been odd, the meeting of Kagari. He had been running back from the stores, as he knew that Miya had started to time him in effort to motivate him to stabilize his speed. The uneven control of his speed had become apparent to the woman when in their daily training Minato had tried to charge to Miya and wasn't able to stop until he was three steps too far, which earned him a smack to the back of his head. Miya had giggled that even if girls liked hugs, he was being too eager to give one. He had turned red and scratched the back of his head while trying to mumble that it wasn't that, his legs were moving too fast for him.

He was being too slow and tried to push a little more out of him as he turned around the corner with the shopping bag in his arm, he suddenly felt himself hitting something and was sent backwards, falling on his ass.

As he looked up, he saw a person with gray hair and a moment he was afraid it was his mother. As it moved to stand in front of the sun, Minato was glad to see that it was not his mother but instead it was someone else. He wasn't able to figure out was the person a boy or a girl, even the clothes gave no indication, Black jeans, white collared shirt with a black jacket on top and combat boots. It was only when he offered his hand and introduced himself that Minato was sure that Kagari was a man. He gladly accepted the hand and apologized for running into him. Kagari had just shaked his head and said it was his fault for standing in the middle of the street, but the thing was, he was lost and trying to find this inn and wondered if Minato could help. He agreed, told his name to Kagari and started to escort him to Maison Izumo as it was the only inn in the area.

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As Minato came in through the window of his room, he had moved out of the bedroom of Takehito and Miya as soon as his wound had healed enough. He looked around his bedroom to see if his textbooks were still there, and saw that Miya had piled them in the corner of his desk. He had not wanted to go to school but Takehito had been adamant about education, and decided to home school him since he didn't want to go to public school. The thought of the wacky professor routine Takehito had put on every time there had been a study session still brought a smile to his face. And he had been just as shocked as Takehito, when they found out that he hadn't actually had any other schooling besides combat training while his time in the M.B.I tower and this had deepened the feelings of betrayal, abandonment and anger he held for his mother. He had been furious at the revelation of how little he men't for her and nearly destroyed the top floor of the inn, before Miya had come and knocked some sense to into him with the ladle. She had quickly learned how to use it as an effective weapon and had more than once showed Takehito and Minato the error of their ways.

He entered the hallway in the upper floor of the inn, and noticed that Kagari's door was open. He went to close it, as he guessed that Kagari had been busy enough as it is with his problem of controlling his fire powers. He needed to get them in check since Minaka planned to start releasing sekirei slowly in to the population of Tokyo within the next two years and apparently his mother had asked Kagari to be a guardian of sorts. The knowledge of Takami caring about sekirei had made Minato think that maybe she wasn't all that bad but that wasn't enough to dispel his hatred toward the woman. The only glimmer of hope he had, was the fact that the plan was supposed to start three years from now, when he would be nineteen. Seeing that the male sekirei was downstairs and not in his room, he closed the door and made a mental note of telling the man to take care of his room before Minato would do something to it. Minato had been told that Miya was a sekirei 01 when he had asked why he always had this funny feeling when Miya was in the room. And when he had attacked Kagari shortly after he had escorted him to the inn, the fire that had enveloped Kagari's fists had been a clear sign that he wasn't a human. Miya had been stunned to see him at the door and Minato understood it the wrong way which had been his reason to attack. This of course ment that Miya and Takehito had to tell Kagari the story behind Minato, and after that they had actually become good friends. Kagari was feeling sorry for the boy because of the treatment he had had, and felt they were like kindred spirits since he was also betrayed by his body and mind.

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Minato walked slowly to downstairs, listening to voices coming from the living room where they would normally eat. He immediately recognized the voice of Kagari, it was a low smoothing voice with a slight smoky undertone. And almost as noisy was Seo, a misfit of a man with a loud voice which Minato heard whining too much for his liking. Seo had been the best friend of Takehito and for the life of him, Minato did not know why. For a long time he had been coming here to eat when he was too lazy to get a job. He had thrown Seo out of the inn the first time they met, as he was laying in front of the main door and looked like a homeless person. Minato had been taught that they don't turn down anyone in need and Minato agreed to it but there was just something in Seo that rubbed him the wrong way.

After he had returned to the inn from tossing out Seo, Takehito had asked where he had been and if he had seen his friend who was supposed to come for dinner. Telling him that the only one he had seen, was this homeless person laying in front of the house. And because he'd given Minato a bad feeling, he had tossed him out of the yard. Takehito had laughed with tears coming out of his eyes, when there had been a knock on the door. Takehito had walked to the door still laughing. His laughter had become louder at the sight of Seo when he opened the door, and the accusatory You bastard shout Seo had given Minato.

Miya had come out of the kitchen and shared Minato's sentiment of the man calling him scum. She told that dinner was ready and turned on her heels to fetch the food. As Minato setted the table, he watched Seo being a full-blown smooch. He did nothing to help set the table, he didn't thank when the food was brought and quite rudely demanded for seconds. Minato had broken his chopsticks in his fist as he was straining his self-control of the brazen man, and Takehito who recognized the symptoms sent him to finish his meal in the kitchen.

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As he entered the living room where the smell of Miya's beef stew attacked his sense of smell and made his mouth water, he saw that Seo had already started eating and was wolfing down the food. Kagari watched in obvious disgust and ate with emphasised calm. Miya glared at Seo before turning to Minato with a smile.

"Hello Minato, I reserved you a plate." She said and pointed to the plate next to her. Minato nodded and walked to the plate slapping Seo in the back of his head.

"What was that for, huh kid?" Seo asked rubbing his head. The strength in the boys arms still surprised him. It had shocked him badly when he had challenged him to arm wrestling and when he had beaten him with relative ease, it had been a big hit to his pride.

"For behaving like a pig, trash man." Minato said teasing Seo at his latest job and seated himself next to Miya. Miya giggled at the remark silently and then she sighed sadly as her face went solemn. Minato squeezed her shoulder gently as a reminder that she was not alone and started eating. He had been scared at her first but had grown to love her as a sister from all his heart. He knew that the loss of Takehito had been devastating to her and it had not been easy to himself either.

Half a year ago, in the middle of the night Takehito had gathered Miya and him in the living room and told them that he had to go to the M.B.I tower. Minato along with Miya had started a heated argument, asking why he HAD to go. What possibly could be so important that he had to go back there. Takehito explained calmly that Minaka had been fiddling with some of the devices they had recently found and inside one were eight crystals. Miya had gasped at the mention of the crystals and Minato was confused as why the crystals were so important. Takehito told Minato that the crystals stored energy and if handled wrongly, one could level the city of Tokyo. And as they also were linked to the sekirei, he didn't know how but they were, Minaka had called him and asked for help before ALL the sekirei would be wiped out. Minato's eyes widened at the possibility of death of every sekirei. Miya and him agreed on him going begrudgingly, but said that he'd better come back fast. Neither of them trusted anything involving Minaka and his mad plans.

Takehito didn't come back from the tower. Instead they got a visit from a man in a black suit who told them that Takehito had died in the accident but had succeeded in preventing the deaths of everyone in Tokyo and the sekirei. Minato had been strained along with Kagari in keeping Miya from killing the man where he stood and from storming the tower to reduce it to a pile of rubble. Only after Minato had reminded her that Takehito had wished for her to not to use her sword again, she stopped struggling against them and had retreated into the bedroom she had shared with Takehito. It took two months for Miya to come out of the room and for those two months it was Kagari who took food to her, leaving a tray in front of the room three times a day. Minato on the other hand roamed around the city, trying to come to grips with the loss of the only man he possibly could think as a father. On one of those walks he had happened across a scene where some man was beating up a girl and he had lost it. His anger flared like hell's flames and when he came to, the man was in a bloody heap next to trash bin his hand nailed to his back with a switch blade. Minato turned to look at the girl who was equally scared of him as she was of the one who had beaten her, apologized for frightening her and told her to run home.

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When Minato had gotten back to the inn, he had decided not to go out like that anymore. Not until his temper was better in check and to this end, he joined a local Mixed Martial Arts club. It took a lot of concentration and willpower to learn and use the skills he had already learned and the skills he learned in the club. And just like it was with Miya, his inner animal was trying to come out. He often had to stop and take a breather, so he wouldn't hurt the other students. Because of the training he had already went through, he quickly came one of the top students and after a month, he was offered a part-time job of teaching the new comers.

He took the job as a means of getting more money to himself and to help Miya financially as they had lost their biggest source of income when Takehito died. Takehito had helped around local care centers for a nominal fee. That was three months ago, and things were starting to return to normal. Miya had changed at the loss of Takehito, she no longer smiled as often and when she did, it wasn't a genuine smile. It was like she had pulled a mask over her face and the only one who was allowed to see behind it was Minato. She let her adopted brother see the real her and no-one else. Minato had changed too, his mood was darker now that Takehito was not there to make his silly jokes, and more prone to keeping to himself. Like Miya, he only showed his real feelings to her. Not wanting to grow close to anyone anymore, in fear of losing them or them betraying him again. They both grieved together and tried to continue living together. It had been awkward at first but they soon got over it as they trained. At first it was only to have a resemblance of normalcy but it quickly turned to a way to let out their stress and learning more about each other as the trust between them grew. Minato shared his nightmares with her and she told about her fears of ending up hating humans, and essentially turning into Karasuba.

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They had finished dinner and as always it was left to Minato and Miya to clean up, Seo had went back to whatever shit hole he called home and Kagari was off to his job, which was being a host at a local club. Both Miya and Minato had been surprised at his chosen occupation and Miya had gone as far as to give a quite a lenghty speech about immorality and the damned illicit relationships at the inn as a result. Kagari had tried to say that he had no intention of bringing work home but Miya would have none of it.

"Miya-neechan, why do we have to keep feeding that lowlife?" Minato asked and scrubbed the table clean from the food that had dropped from Seo's mouth with obvious disgust.

"Because he was Takehito's friend, and we don't." Miya started. "Turn down anyone in need, I know." Minato finished and smiled at the woman. Miya smiled back at Minato and went to the kitchen to start washing dishes. It had surprised Miya that she had grown so fond of Minato so quickly but she was glad about it. If not for Minato, she didn't know how long she would have brooded in the bedroom, hoping to stay stuck in the past. When Minato was finished cleaning the table, he brought the rag he had cleaned with to the kitchen, gave a little kiss at Miyas cheek and wished her a good night.

Minato was changing into his pyjamas and notched another day off the calendar and noticed that his birthday was coming up in a few months. Keeping the calendar had been ment to keep in track how often he had an episode and then it had turned into keeping in track of how long it was till the start of the plan. When Takehito had told him all about it, he had wanted to stop it, he had been thinking about the only two friends he had there quite often and wished that both of them would be able to avoid being pitted against their sisters. Now he notched the days off only because of habit, as he was sure to run into sekirei when Minaka launched his grand plan.

Minato woke up in the middle of the night at the sound of steps in the hallway outside his door and first thought it was just Kagari coming back from his work. He turned to his side and closed his eyes when he realized that the steps were too light to be his. Wondering as why would Miya be walking about the upper floor at this time of night, he got up from his bed and went out of his room. As he entered the hallway, the scent of a flowery perfume wafted to his nose. Kagari always changed clothes at his workplace so it couldn't have been him, unless he was willing to risk a concussion at the hands of Miya. This had to be someone else, Miya didn't use perfume. Narrowing his eyes, he stepped back to his room to pick up his wakizashi and started to follow the scent. The scent led him downstairs and when he got to the living room, he heard some clattering noises coming from the kitchen. Minato pulled his blade out of it's sheath and crept towards the kitchen.

The kitchen was dark, except for the small light shining from the fridge. Hearing silent muttering from the direction of the kitchen table, Minato turned his head and saw a dark figure with it's back towards him. With an almost evil grin he started to sneak towards it. When he was in arms reach, he grabbed the figure and put his wakizashi at the throat while his other hand took a hold of the hand that had been reaching into the cupboard.

"You picked the wrong house to break in buddy." He whispered at the figure and noticed that the figure was actually a woman. A pretty well endowed woman with a purple china dress that would or at least should be illegal.

"Mmm, I like things rough honey." The woman whispered back and before Minato knew what was happening, he was lifted off the floor by seemingly nothing. Deeming the woman as a sekirei, he dropped the wakizashi as he knew it would do him no good and probably would make the woman decide that he was no threat. Minato knew better than to challenge sekirei, Miya had once shown just how much power sekirei could muster and it had been frightening. The woman walked closer at Minato and he saw she was eyeing him keenly.

"You're too young to be Takehito and way too good-looking to be Seo, just who are you sugar?" The woman asked with a sultry voice which slurred a little. Suddenly the light's came on in the kitchen and Minato heard a familiar voice which he welcomed very much.

"Let Minato down Kazehana, you have no reason to keep him in your winds as he has no sake on him." Miya said calmly but the flash in her eyes and the faint outline of a hanya mask behind her back was a clear indicator that she was not feeling happy about the situation.

"You're no fun, I'd just love to play with him" Kazehana said to Miya with a slight smile which was driven from her face when Miya smacked her on the head with her trusty ladle. Kazehana dropped Minato to the floor rather roughly as she held the bumb in her head.

"Owie, that really hurts you know." Kazehana said and rubbed her head. Miya nodded in response and helped Minato up from the floor.

"You two know each other?" Minato asked and patted his pajama pants.

"Yes, we worked together at one time." Miya answered and turned to Kazehana.

"What?" She asked.

"I hope you have a reason at coming by at this hour and interrupt my sleep?" Miya asked in return and was clearly not happy.

"Well, yes. I came here to see if you had any good sake. And after that I thought that you and Takehito might want to share a bottle or two with me." Kazehana said with a smile, which left her face as soon as she saw Miya's eyes starting to water.

"What's wrong Miya?" She asked and watched in confusion as Minato hugged Miya.

"Miya, please go to bed. I'll see that things are settled here." Minato said gently and gave a final squeeze in comfort. Miya nodded, not being able to trust her voice and left the room silently.

"What was that all about?" Kazehana asked Minato since Miya had just left without saying a word to her. Minato didn't answer, he went to the cupboard where Miya kept her sake and got a bottle along with two saucers.

"I think it's better we sit down and take a few before I explain anything Kazehana-san." Minato said silently and settled the bottle with the saucers on the table. Kazehana nodded and sat down waiting for Minato to pour sake. He poured the sake with a grand flourish which got a small giggle out of the woman. They lifted the saucers to eachother and drank it down with a gulp, which in turn got Minato's eyes water as he was not so used to alcohol. Takehito had introduced him to it slowly as he had been sure that Minato would face it at some point and it would be better if Minato would be prepared on how it affected him and his self-control. As they drank the bottle Minato told Kazehana about the death of Takehito and what had happened in the Maison Izumo after that and Kazehana had told Minato her story midway the second bottle but by then Minato had been so drunk that he hadn't wholly understood what she had said to him. They had agreed to go to sleep but where was left in the hazy memory filled with sake.

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When Minato woke up the next morning, he was feeling a bit odd. There was a strange weight on his chest and someone was driving an ice pick out of his temples. Looking down, he turned red when he saw that a very naked Kazehana was very much a sleep on top of him. 'Oh, this is not good' Minato thought as he started to count downwards from hundred, as he was desperate to lower a certain part of his body that was more awake in the morning than he was. Minato found the task rather difficult as Kazehana had snaked her hands around him and was pulling him closer to her, and the grinding motion she did when finding a better position was being pure torture. Even more so, when Minato was unable to not keep his eyes off from the soft mounds of flesh that were pressing on his abdomen. 'Dear god, please let me get out of this before Miya comes.' ran through his mind as he tried to wiggle out under the woman.

"Mmmh, don't want to wake up yet." Kazehana mumbled in her sleep and lifted her leg to Minato's groin, turning his face even redder than it had been. Just as he was almost out, the door to his room opened. Minato's eyes widened in terror as he realized what the situation looked like. He was slouched over Kazehana, with his left arm still under her and his rather obvious morning companion pointing at Kazehana's chin. It was almost as he was trying to straddle her and take advantage of her natural attributes.

"Miya, this is not what it looks like. Trust me, I had nothing to do with this." Minato said loudly with a pleading tone as he chose to start explaining before Miya came in, saw what was happening and thought the worst of it.

"What is not what it looks...KAZEHANA!" Miya shouted as she entered the room and saw the scene. She immediately hit Kazehana in the head with her ladle, she had taken a habit of carrying it around Minato had found out for his misfortune.

"Ugh, don't yell. Don't you know it hurts when you yell at someone who has a hangover. And you didn't have to hit me either, my head hurts enough with out you adding to it." Kazehana said and rose into a sitting position, giving Minato full view of what she had in terms of womanly charms. With a red face and a slight red trickle coming down from his nose, Minato quickly stood up and bolted out of the door. He wasn't used to women, sure Miya was there but she was different. She was his sister but Kazehana was a woman with a big W and boy did she have an effect to his teenage mind. Washing his face in the bathroom, the images of Kazehanas nudity flashed through his mind. 'Uh oh' He thought as he felt the familiar rise of his evil twin as he had dubbed his animal self, coming up. He locked the door and sat down at the toilet. Closing his eyes and forcing his breathing to relax, he counted down from ten and repeated in his mind that he controlled it, it did not control him. He was the master of his body, not the beast implanted inside his mind.

"You can't do that Kazehana, you can't come into Minato's room." Miya said with seriousness in her voice Kazehana remembered hearing a few years ago when she was still the head of Discipline Squad.

"Aww, c'mon Miya. You know how teenagers are, I bet he liked it." She said with a chuckle when she remembered how red Minato's face had been.

"Yes, I'm quite sure he did and that's precisely the reason you need to stop this right now or I'm forced to throw you out. There will be no illicit relationships in here, nor will there be public nudity." Miya said sharply, pointing out Kazehanas naked breasts. Kazehana looked at Miya with wonderment.

"What do you mean Miya? Why would you throw me out after a bit of teasing? You know that I'm not interested in anyone other than HIM." Kazehana said stressing the word him as Miya knew it ment Minaka. With a sigh Miya explained that Minato could be somewhat dangerous if he got a little too excited, not wanting to tell the whole story to Kazehana without Minato's approval. And to be fair, Kazehana probably wouldn't even care all that much.

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"Are you alright Minato?" Miya asked with a concerned voice when she knocked on the toilet door. Minato had been there for an hour and obviously this had something to do with Kazehana, as Minato had been avoiding the woman for a week now. Miya had bought a lock and had given it to Minato to lock his doors, as a countermeasure of the sleepwalking habits of the alcohol loving woman.

"Yes Miya, I'm fine." Minato answered with a strained voice and slapped himself in the face again. 'C'mon Minato, get those thoughts out of your head!' He yelled inside his head as the image of Kazehana naked was stuck in his head like glue. The fact that the woman wore only the skin-tight china dress which showed so much skin that it had to be illegal didn't help.

"Well if you're sure would you mind joining us in breakfast?" Miya asked and waited for a muffled yes before leaving Minato in the toilet and walked downstairs. As she entered the living room, she noticed that Kagari was watching the T.V and Kazehana was nowhere to be seen. Asking Kagari about the woman and getting a shrugging of shoulders as an answer, Miya went to the kitchen to fetch the food.

"I should've known." Miya said when she entered the kitchen and saw Kazehana raiding her sake storage...again. "Don't you think that you should cut back a little?" She continued and started to pile dishes and the likes in a tray.

"No, I need more. I'm thinking about going for a trip. Traveling around the world and taste all the sake there is, how's that sound?" Kazehana asked Miya with a slight slur and a bit of a haze clear in her eyes.

"Not so good Kazehana, I really think you should stop drinking. And would you mind putting on some decent clothes once in a while?" Miya said calmly as Kazehana asked about her idea about the drinking trip three times a day. Miya knew she was drinking for her heartache but no amount of convincing would make her stop unless she wanted to.

"I am decently dressed, thank you very much. Or do you see my tits dangling out or my cooch showing?" Kazehana asked not caring to mince her words. Miya only shaked her head at the woman and left the kitchen. Entering the living room, she saw that Minato had arrived and was talking with Kagari about something which, by the looks of it was quite entertaining to him.

"Alright you two, pipe down and let's eat." Miya said sternly and placed the tray on the table allowing them to take the food at their own pleasure. In the kitchen, Kazehana had found a very large bottle of sake ment for cooking and being very pleased at herself, she went to join the others for breakfast. As she entered the room, Minato quickly looked away from her and started eating faster. When he was finished he hastily said thank you to Miya and with a shout from the door that he was going to work, he left the inn.

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'This must truly be a sign of the will of the gods' Minaka thought to himself as he smiled to the image that his newly installed satellite surveillance system was streaming into his computer. Keeping his eyes on the screen, he picked up the phone and called to Medlab 2.

"Head adjuster and grand administrator of sekirei plan Sahashi Takami speaking." Came a weary voice from the phone.

"Takami-kun, so good to hear your voice. I have something interesting to show you, would come to my office please." Minaka said to the phone as he issued an order of intercept and capture toward the personal military he had.

"I honestly don't give a flying fuck about anything you might find interesting Minaka, so why don't you do us both a favor and go fuck your self?" Takami said to the phone with anger she now felt every god damn time that cocky bastard dared to be in contact to her.

"Aww, Takami-kun. Why so angry? Trust me, you're going to kiss me for this." Minaka said with his normal glee when he knew things would go his way whether others wanted that or not. Takami gave a heavy sigh, and agreed to come to his office. Not to kiss him but to smack him in the head for interrupting her. Takami placed the phone down and turned toward the sekirei she had been with.

"I'm sorry Tsubasa, Minaka has something I absolutely must see and so this adjustment is sadly now over. The good thing is that there is not much left, and you should be all ready and able to be winged by your destined Ashikabi." Takami said warmly to the pink haired sekirei. Benitsubasa had grown very well, she was probably one of the top 5 sekirei in terms of strength excluding the single digits. Benitsubasa nodded to her adjuster and hopped down from the table and settling her black kimono better around her.

"Why don't you get a new kimono Tsubasa? Doesn't the missing sleeve bother you? I could give you clearance." Takami said as they left the medlab together, Takami towards the elevator and Benitsubasa toward the training area that had been her home as long as she had been in the tower.

"I like this one better Takami-sensei. It kind of grew on me I guess." Benitsubasa answered and waved Takami goodbye. Takami shaked her head at the comment of the sekirei, that was certainly the most reasonable explanation she had heard for some of the outfits she had seen the sekirei wear. The best so far had been from Hikari and Hikibi, they had liked how the pvc licked their skin. Takami had quickly turned the conversation towards other topics as that was all she had wanted to hear about that.

Takami entered Minakas office after the short elevator ride and with obvious reluctance, she made her way to his desk. She didn't like that grin in his face, it was a sure sign that what ever he had thought of, was going to either irritate her or make her punch him.

"Takami-kun, come and rejoice as the gods have seemed fit to grant you a boon." Minaka said in his pompous voice he used when he was bringing forth the will of the gods.

"What are you blabbering about now Minaka?" Takami growled and lit a cigarette just so she could pour ash on his carpet, even small pain in the ass was pain in the ass. Minaka fixed his glasses with his index finger and flashed his wide smile as he pointed his computer screen.

"Come and see Takami-kun. This truly must be the will of the gods as this image was brought to my attention mere moments after my surveillance system was up and running." He said quite proudly about the feats his new and magnificent satellite system was able to do. Takami sighed and went to check the screen so she could leave the office. Really, the sight of the man was enough to make her rage start bubbling. whatever Takami had thought she would see, this was not it. She turned the screen to face her completely, her lower lip trembling as tears started to form in her eyes.

"Minato." She whispered and traced the face of the boy who she had thought been dead for almost four years now. She closed her eyes as relief washed over her. She thanked what ever gods she could think of that her son was alive well.

"I knew you would like this piece of news, and I'm sure that you will be more ecstatic of the fact, that I have already sent a team to bring Minato back home." Minaka said and patted Takami on the back. Takami turned her head slowly toward Minaka as she could not believe the words he had just said.

"You did what!? You pompous ass! Don't touch him anymore, you have done enough to him already you twisted piece of insane shit!" Takami shouted straight to the ear of the man and slapped him to the side of his head with a stapler she had grabbed from the desk. Minaka was sent flying to the floor at the sudden strike and he bounced back up, backing away from the angered woman.

"Now, now, Takami-kun. Surely you know that this place is the best for him, it has been a small wonder that he haven't snapped already. You know the treatments he have gone through." Minaka said calmly and waited for the words sink in through the anger. Takami knew that Minaka was right and that just made her more angry, she had hoped that now that Minato had been declared officially dead Minaka would leave him alone. But the cold scientist in her knew that Minato was even better of an test subject now. He essentially had no basic human rights and if he happened to die during these experiments Minaka surely had already thought of, they could dump it to the streets and there would be no repercussions of any kind.

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Minato had been worked to near exhaustion in the gym today. Somehow the word had spread that he was The teacher to study under. He had known that it would be bad, when the number one student in the gym had challenged him. Minato understood his motives, he had been feeling threatened by Minato's sudden rise and wanted to solidify his place in the gym. He should have declined from the challenge but something in him had made him unable to refuse it.

He was deep in his thoughts and didn't notice the men before they had surrounded him. Minato stopped in his tracks when he saw two men in military gear standing in front of him. He had turned around only to see three more men, sweat started dropping from his forehead as he recognized the emblem on their chest.

"I should have expected this." He said to himself. Looking around, he spotted a small alleyway half-hidden in the shadows. He flashed a smile to the men who stopped and started to fiddle their assault rifles nervously. They had been informed that this boy was not normal, he was to be approached with caution. They were authorized to shoot if need be but he was supposed to be delivered alive. Minato bowed to the men and bolted to the alleyway, leaving the soldiers staring in awe at the speed of his movements. They had never seen any human run that fast, it was almost he was one of those weird women that filled the lower levels of the tower.

"AFTER HIM!" The team leader shouted and swore loudly as he started running after the Minato. Minato was running in a maze of small alleys that littered any big city and he heard the soldiers running after him. Turning from a corner, he saw a fire escape and decided to go to the roofs as an attempt to shake them off. He was almost on top of the fire escape when a bullet zinged next to his head. He looked below him and saw two of the soldiers taking aim and three others quickly climbing the fire escape. Minato swore to himself and when he got to the roof, he ran to the otherside. But luck was not on his side tonight, the next building was too far for him to jump and the way was definitely blocked.

Having no other option than trying to fight his way out, Minato ran back towards the fire escape deciding at throwing the soldiers down from the side as the climbed up the final ladder. The leader cautiously lifted his head over the edge and was greeted with a fist. Minato struck the first man between the eyes with a blow that had almost all his strength behind it. He had seen a few trash bins open in the alleyway and was sure that the men would not die from the fall but merely be knocked out. The two men behind their squad leader was amazed as he suddenly leaped backwards from the edge and when the first one turned his head back up, Minato's leg was too close to be dodged. The two dropped in a tangled heap to the platform straight below them and the poor bastard who had the fortune of getting Minato slamming on top of him, let out a bletch sound as all breath was driven out of him. Minato gave a quick kick to the other mans chin to knock him out.

The two men who were left standing in the alley, was shocked to see their leader slamming into the trash bin in front of them and the sudden clang from the fire escape bewildered them more. They switched their guns to full auto and blasted at the top of the fire escape, as they were starting to get scared of this boy who had taken out three men. Luckily for Minato, he was nowhere near the place they were shooting at, as he went through the window next to the fire escape to the hallway of the building. Running at full speed out of the house and steering towards Maison Izumo, he kept looking back to see if he was followed. After five blocks of running and changing direction in almost every corner, he was confident enough that he wasn't followed and slowed down to catch his breath.

Minato was still panting as he entered the inn and he sat at the stairs to the upper floor. Miya heard his panting and came to see what was wrong. She saw Minato sweating heavily and that his face was red. She told Minato that the bath was ready and he should go and wash away the sweat from his exercise before coming for dinner. Shaking his head at Miya' words, Minato told what had happened as his breath slowed enough to talk more than two words. Miya listened Minato and as his story progressed, a frown started to form on her brow. When Minato was finished, Miya immediately forbade him from going outside at least for the time being. Minato agreed as neither of them wanted any attention from M.B.I

The two standing members of the team had stopped the shooting as they had noticed that their target was not there anymore. Or at least not where they were shooting at. They started walking slowly towards their team members, keeping an eye on the rooftops for a sign of anything suspicious. As they got to the fire escape, the older one went to fish out their leader out of the trash bin as the other one started climbing the fire escape. After they had woken up the other, the leader asked for a status update and starter cursing when learned that the target had escaped the scene.

"Alpha leader to base, come in base." Kenshin said to his walkie-talkie, feeling irritated and afraid at the same time. The last one to disappoint to Minaka was still in display at the big screens in the training area of their squad. The ease at how the woman had made minced meat out of his predecessor had made him shudder in fear.

"This is central, we read you loud and clear." Came a static voice from the small device, breaking Kenshin out of his thoughts.

"We were unable to retrieve the target. Contact to target has been lost and current whereabouts are unknown." He said and waited for additional instructions.

"Understood, return to base." Was the short reply, which dreaded him greatly. Returning to base would mean reporting to Minaka, With the news Kenshin had, he was sure that the man would not be particularly pleased.

"Alright boys, we're going home." He said and turned to walk back to the humvee they had rode to the scene. The others fell in line and followed, another days work was done and they were happy that the responsibily was not theirs.

After half an hour, Kenshin was standing in front of Minaka and was sweating quite visibly. The office temperature was too high for his liking and he was half sure the boss man kept it high to see his underlings sweat under his gaze.

"So, Captain Hayate was it? You lost the target you were sent to retrieve. Am I understanding the situation clearly?" Minaka asked with a uncaring voice, looking at the battle his satellite had recorded. The man nodded and remained silent, as he was instructed to keep his mouth shut when Minato's screen was on. Minaka shaked his head and let out a sigh.

"It always saddens me, when people don't use the possibilities gods give them." He said with grief-stricken voice at the stupidity of humankind. Kenshin was not sure what he ment, and thought it would be best if he only nodded.

"You're dismissed Captain." Minaka said and waved the officer away. Kenshin was glad that the report was over and he was still alive. Quickly he saluted, turned towards the elevator and with speed close to running exited the office. After he had gotten to his own office, he let out a sigh and made a mental note to not return from missions until he had done everything that was humanly possible to complete it. Being deep in his thoughts, he didn't hear his door opening.

"Hello Captain. Am I interfering?" He heard a gentle voice from behind him. He turned toward the noise and was frozen in shock. There was the woman who had killed men like they were babies. Karasuba smiled at the shock of the mans face and let her blood lust flood her eyes.

"I was informed that we would be working together for a while. I'm in your care." She said and gave a small nod to the man before sitting in to his chair and lifting her legs to the desk. Kenshin was just about to say that this was his office, as he was a little insulted at the shameless way the woman took ownership of his room. The words died in his mouth when Karasuba pulled her nodachi from its sheath and started to sharpen it while her eyes locked to his. Kenshin knew she was daring him to speak, and he was convinced that the smallest sound from his mouth would mean his head parting from his shoulders. If he were lucky.

"Now Captain. Tell me what you have planned for the continuation of this hunt. I am most eager to find my pupil, he is in desperate need of a lesson." Karasuba said and smiled at the thought of meeting Minato again. She had been surprised at the news of him surviving but had came to terms that she should have expected it. Minato wasn't your everyday human. No, he was something far more interesting and the possibility of making him her Ashikabi and plaything had entered her mind more than once.

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Wow, this is my longest chapter yet. And I like it, I think the time skip was not too much in terms of how much time had passed and do tell me if the explanation of what had happened in the mean time was lacking in someway. I was also amazed at the amount of reads I've gotten and I am truly grateful of the fact that so many of you have found enjoyment from this ^^ Still looking for Beta! If yer interested, send a PM and ofc if you have an superb idea about this fic. I take suggestions and will give credit where credit is due.

**Emeraldfireblade: I thank you for your kind words and hopefully I can keep up with your expectations**

**DanTheJIGGERMAN: I am also very interested as where this story is going ^^ I only have a vague idea and most of my writings just come to me while I write**

**FreeTraderBeowolf: I did try to proofread this one better, but there are so many differences in how we use languages, between Finnish and English I mean. Even when I use English as a writing language, my thought processes for words is still sadly Finnish :D But I'm glad that you have found improvement in my writing and I humbly thank you for your continued support.**

**Gray vs Ale: Thanks and I always had thought Minaka to be a heartless bastard!**

**GamerGeek: Not a bad idea in general but not quite sure how I could integrate that in what kind of person Minato is in this fic. But I'm thinking about it, maybe not for Minato though.**


	6. Chapter 6

I don't own sekirei or anything related to sekirei, just so you know ^^

Minato let out a sigh. He looked out of the window while washing dishes and wished he could go out. He'd been stuck inside the inn for a month now and it was taking its toll. He was so preoccupied by washing of the dishes and thoughts of lost freedom that he didn't notice the quiet steps behind his back.

"Minato-kun. You haven't been avoiding me now, have you?" Kazehana whispered to his ear. Minato jumped a little at the sudden voice in his ear and dropped a plate back in to the sink.

"N-No, Kazehana-san. I've just been busy, ehehe." Minato laughed awkwardly while mentally kicking himself for not paying attention. 'So soft...GAH, get a hold of yourself Minato!' He thought as Kazehana had put her arms around his neck and with the excuse of seeing what Minato was doing. With practiced ease, he removed himself from between the sink and Kazehana.

"Really Minato-kun. I don't bite you know, unless you want me to." Kazehana said with a wink and chuckled. Minato blushed and left the kitchen, mumbling something about training. 'So cute, what is it that makes him so cute when he's flustered.' Kazehana thought and smiled a sultry smile and watched Minato retreating to the backyard of the inn. Thank god it was time for training. It was the only time Minato was allowed to go outside of the inn. And even that was because of the trees that obscured the backyard. If it weren't for those, Miya would never have let him out.

He was standing in the backyard with his wakizashi in his hand and staring Miya in the eyes. Both were waiting for the other one to start. With a sudden strike, Minato slashed at Miya with a horizontal strike while running forward. Miya easily parried the stroke with her katana with a relaxed too slow remark and kept backing up, so Minato couldn't kick her. Making few criss cross slashes coupled with punches from his free hand, Minato had succeeded in driving Miya into the corner of the yard. He had thought of this strategy as he had noticed that Miya preferred dodging instead of driving him back with her weapons or kicks and punches. And had decided to go all out frontal attacks to drive her in a place where she would'nt be able to dodge.

"Got you now Miya-neechan." Minato said with a glee and rushed forward. They had agreed a long time ago that a killing strike stopped the training, as that would be easier to check.

"Hate to say this to you brother, but you have lost." Miya said with a smile and slashed with her sword three times, the third stopping right before cleaving Minato in two with a vertical line from his collarbone. Minato was confused at what had just happened. He was running toward Miya, then a light flashed and now his wakizashi was in the wall of the inn and his shirt was in shreds.

"Yaah, Minato-kun. Looking good." Came Kazehanas voice, dripping with suggestions, from the porch leading to the backyard. Miya glared at the woman who she again reminded that illicit sexual relations were forbidden. Specially if it would involve Minato. He sighed and thanked Miya for the training, not feeling up to a second match as his quick loss combined with the teasing of Kazehana was not something he had the energy for today. 'Why must she tease me so much. And more importantly, why does it affect me so much' Minato thought to himself as he wiped the sweat from him.

He spent the rest of the day wandering around the inn and trying to avoid Kazehana. Minato had asked Miya, why would the woman tease him so much and she had answered that it was probably the only way she got her mind off things that were currently bothering her. Minato had shaked his head at this and went to his favorite place to relax and hopefully stay out of the woman's sight. It was not like he hated the advances, quite the contrary if his mornings were any indicator. But it did make him uncomfortable as he feared the loss of himself. Everytime Kazehana got him excited made Minato feel like he was slowly losing himself in haze, and that terrified him to no end. Miya had went to talk with Kazehana, with a spoon in hand to convince her to leave Minato alone. He did not need her drunken advances nor did he need her to try and find a new way inside the room he was sleeping in.

Minato watched the clouds drift and tried to relax into the breeze, but soon heard steps that made it impossible. Minato turned his gaze to the sound and let out a sigh when he saw a familiar red dress, he seemed to be sighing a lot for the past few days.

"Come to tease me again Kazehana-san?" Minato asked as he turned to watch the clouds drift by once more. Kazehana sat next to him and watched the branches of trees sway in the gentle breeze.

"I apologize for teasing you Minato-kun." She said, sounding serious for a change. Minato didn't answer, waiting for her to continue as she had sounded like there was something more she had to say. "I admit, I did it to get a few things out of my mind. But you're also very very cute when you blush." She said with a smile that showed she was teasing him again. Minato had been tempted to hug her and say its okay but her last addition to that had instead, made him blush again.

"Kazehana-san. I understand if there are things in your mind that you'd rather not think about. But I'm not a toy you can play with, in more ways than one." Minato said to the woman and started to rise.

"I never thought of you as a toy Minato. And if it looked that way, I apologize more deeply." She said and took a hold of his wrist. "Truly Minato, it never was my intention to make a toy out of you. It's your honest reactions that bring me joy, that tell me that I am attractive. I...I wanted to feel like I was attractive and I used you for it and I'm sorry." She said and took a gulp from her ever present sake bottle. Minato looked down at the woman and wondered what on earth would make her feel like she was unattractive.

"If it's any consolation, the guy who does not think you're attractive should have his eyes or his head checked. Preferably both as I know that you are beautiful and attractive which is part of the problem, Kazehana-san." Minato said and patted the head of one amazed Kazehana. She had not thought Minato to be so...mature with his words.

"I need you to stop teasing me. I am not a saint nor will I ever be one, but I don't want to be responsible for bringing you or Miya-neechan pain." He continued as he left the roof and Kazehana. She decided to pry the info out of Miya, the info about Minato as she was really starting to get interested in the young man. He was so young and yet the way he looked at the world was of a man twice his age.

"Did you speak with Kazehana Minato?" Miya asked as soon as Minato was back inside his room. Minato let out a small yelp in surprise and nodded. "Yes I did Miya-neechan. And if you want to tell her the reasons why, you can but I don't want to be here when you do. I don't need the pity." Minato said and hugged his sister gently. Miya hugged him back and felt contented in knowing she had been able to help him. Later that night when everyone was sleeping, Minato left the inn through his window. He wanted to walk outside and had decided that nighttime would be best as the place he was going to was going to be pitch black and he had put on his black camo shorts with a black t-shirt. Crawling along the roof, he made his way towards the forest. He had tried to find the place where Karasuba had left him dead almost everyime he had time in his hands, but so far no luck.

Kazehana stared and wondered where would Minato be going at this time of night and why on earth would he crawl, although it made his butt show against his shorts and Kazehana found nothing wrong in the picture. Smiling to herself, she continued to follow Minato into the forest, using her wind powers to keep her out of sight. Kazehana hadn't went back to the inn after Minato left the roof, instead she had drinked the bottle of saké and thought about her life and what she wanted to do with it.

Minato kept feeling that he was followed but everytime he checked there was nothing, so he chalked the feeling as being nervous and continued his search. He had spotted a dirt road some ways to the northeast of the inn and now was as good of a time as any to see where it went. He found the road and decided that the way toward the inn would be where it connected to whatever road that came out of the city and jogged to the opposite direction. He was standing in front of the gate that was all too familiar in thirty minutes, sweat pouring out of him as the jog had made his blood pumping and the memories made him shiver.

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"Found you." Minaka said as the satellite popped up an image of the facility he had taken over after Karasuba had emptied from it's earlier residents. Inside the screen he watched as young man slowly crept inside the facility and quickly changed into the cameras inside. Minaka got a perfect image of the face as Minato was checking the first office. Minaka laughed at the favors gods tended give him and with a few keystrokes from his computer, he notified Karasuba that Minato was found, and he was in the place where Karasuba had killed him.

"I do wonder Minato-kun. What has happened to you in your time of absence? Have you been growing in potential? We shall see after Karasuba has talked with you, wont we Minato?" Minaka talked to himself and kept watching Minato going through his facility with clear bewilderment.

"Saved by the bell." Karasuba said while smiling. Kenshin was lying on the floor in agony and was cursing the bitch to the lowest pits of hell. He had been pinned to his desk for three days now to inspire his subordinates to work faster in finding Minato. Karasuba had been just about to cut off one more finger from him when the notice from Minaka ringed throughout the barracks.

"Don't worry Captain, you don't need to be on the desk any longer." She said and lopped off his head which still held amazement and fear in its features. "Now Min-chan, let us see have you improved at all." She whispered to herself when she exited the office of the dead leader. Karasuba made her way to the office of Minaka and got the information about where he was, Minaka told her that if she would just use the cellphone he had issued to her, she wouldn't need to see him for the information. Karasuba had tossed the cellphone out of the room and into the wall of the opposite room. Clearly stating that she didn't like using cellphones, and within minutes she was hurrying to the facility. Her smile widened as she thought of many ways of showing her appreciation to Minato for tricking her, nobody tricks her and gets away with it.

Kazehana was just about to follow Minato inside as he had been there for awhile when she heard a silent thud from behind the building. Quickly lifting herself up with her winds, she saw Karasuba and paled. She was not afraid for herself as she knew she could get away from Karasuba, and Karasuba was not even hunting her as she had left M.B.I with an all clear notice in her files. Karasuba saw Kazehana and smiled at her gently while waving with one hand, to which Kazehana replied in kind as it was pure insanity to irk that woman in purpose.

"And what would you be doing here Kazehana? I thought you would be halfway through the bars and boys of Tokyo by now." Karasuba said with a sweet voice which promised unending pain if Kazehana did not answer correctly.

"Taking a midnight stroll Karasuba. That's all. I didn't know this was M.B.I property and just came to see what this place is, or was."Kazehana said with a voice much more relaxed that she was feeling. Minato was in so much trouble now, she needed to think a way for Minato to leave here alive and fast.

"Oh? I was almost sure you were here because of Min-chan." Karasuba said and walked inside the facility. 'Min...chan?' Kazehana thought in amazement and then her eyes widened in realisation. 'Oh god. She knows Minato and she knows he's here.' she panicked and went after them, running inside without caring about how much noise she would make. If Karasuba heard her, then she would but she couldn't let Karasuba kill Minato, not when she knew how much he meant for Miya. And she prayed that Karasuba never founds out how much he does mean to Miya.

Minato was standing in front of the door where he had crawled out of after he had woken up from the stab wound and kick Karasuba had given her. His hand trembled at the door handle, still fearing that he would find the woman lying there in a pool of her own blood with that accusation in her eyes. He started to press the handle down when a familiar feeling tingled in his neck, a point of a sword grazing it ever so slightly. Minato swallowed the lump in his throat and turned his head a little to see behind him without making the sword suddenly plunge deeper. His faced paled and his eyes widened as a silent no came out of his mouth.

"Yara yara, Min-chan. Fancy meeting you here." Karasuba said silently to Minato and smiled at the increasing terror she saw in his eyes. 'I've missed that terror, that pure fear he is pouring out is intoxicating.' She though and licked her lips. Minato was unable to say anything and when he saw Karasuba lick her lips, it dawned on him. The amount of suffering he was about to go through was undoubtedly going to be high. He started to back away from the woman slowly, to not angry her or make her lunge at him. Karasuba only smiled and stepped in sync with Minato.

"MINATO! Where are you Minato?" They heard a woman shouting from the far end of the corridor they were standing in. Karasuba let out an irritated sound and turned her head towards it, narrowing her eyes in annoyance. Minato recognized the voice as it had tortured him for little over a month now, awake and asleep.

"Don't come here Kazehana. Stay away!" Minato shouted and kept his eyes on Karasuba, who had now turned her head back to Minato and smiled an all too happy smile. Minato knew that she was thinking about attacking the other woman, just because she could. Kazehana had stopped at the far end and was able to see only the faint outlines of Minato and Karasuba, as there were no lights on.

"Karasuba, what do you want with Minato?" She asked and hoped it was not for the sake of killing him. She could not stop it from happening when she was that far, her winds would not be fast enough.

"Hmm? And why would you need to know that Kazehana? This has nothing to do with you, it's between me and Min-chan." Karasuba answered with an edge in her voice, hinting that it would be best not to pry anything from her.

"It's alright Kazehana-san. Just go back, I know what she's here for. And if you promise me Karasuba, that you do not do anything to Kazehana, I will come quietly." Minato said, keeping a steady gaze at Karasuba. She lifted her brow in surprise. 'where had Minato got balls that big? Had he changed in other ways? Oh this would be fun, the process of finding it out would definently be fun.' Karasuba thought knowing that once they were back at the tower, Minaka would be putting Minato through so much tests and agony that it would make her weak in the knees.

"But what do I say to...her." Kazehana asked silently, not mentionin Miya as she knew that it would drive Karasuba into a homicidal rage. They were not in the best of terms and Karasuba hated Miya with a passion, she despised her because Miya was stronger and faster than her without the blood lust.

"say that I left, and that I don't intend to return. Tell her I'm sorry it had to be this way, but I couldn't bear seeing her cry. And tell her that she must keep her word, no matter what happens." Minato said and put his hands together in front of him. "I'm all yours Karasuba, let's go."

"You seem to have forgotten something Min-chan." Karasuba said as she turned her sword to have it's edge in Minatos neck. "You don't tell me what to do." She continued gently and pulled her sword, slowly making the edge cut in Minatos neck. Minato kept his eyes on hers and the only sign that he felt the sword cutting his flesh was his breathing, as he strained to keep himself in check. Minato didn't want to break down there, it would make Kazehana do something really stupid which in turn would give Karasuba an excuse to kill her.

"I'm sorry Karasuba-sama. Please forgive this worthless human." Minato said to her with a small bow, as he choosed to be submissive to not make her anger flare to him either. Karasuba's smile widened at the submissiveness of Minato and her excitement started to rise. She loved the feeling of power she had right now, making others afraid of her, forcing them to do her bidding. God how she loved that, and the fact that Minato was that monkey's son made this all the better. She slapped Minato in the face and sheathed her sword.

"Just this once, that will be the punishment. But if you forget your manners even once now, you will be in a world of hurt." She said with poorly held excitement in her voice. Minato nodded and waited. Kazehana had watched the whole thing with her face white in shock. 'How could that be Minato?`That whipped dog?" She couldn't understand why Minato had changed at the sight of Karasuba. He was afraid, that much was certain but being afraid didn't explain the fact that Karasuba and Minato acted like master and slave. Minato had been forceful and sometimes frighteningly intense in the conversations they had had but this, this was something so unlike Minato that she couldn't get her head around it.

"Kazehana-san. Leave, now." Those were the last words Minato said before Karasuba kneed him in the face, making him go limp at the shock from first, to his forehead and second to the back of his head when it struck the metal grating at the door behind him.

"Yes, Kazehana. I think this is your time to leave." Karasuba said happily and lifted Minato to her shoulder before vanishing to the darkness on the opposite end of the corridor. Kazehana slowly turned around and started to make her way back to the inn, confused at the change in Minato and afraid of might happen to him. Karasuba would torture him with out a doubt and she prayed that Minaka would stop her, as he was the CEO of the company that owned them all.

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Miya was pacing around in the inn. She had checked Minato's room, as she had done once every night since he had started to live there to be around him if he had another nightmare. He had not been in his room and he wasn't in the roof where he would usually lie for hours just watching the sky and this made her worry. 'Where is he? Where could have he gone?' She though as she walked in circles throughout the inn, feeling too restless to just sit and wait. Kazehana had not been in her room either, and she was sure that Kazehana was following Minato around. This didn't make the fact that Minato was outside any easier as she knew that Kazehana would try to seduce him after she got drunk enough. Kazehana desperately tried to forget Minaka and had picked Minato for some reason, she just didn't know that with Minato it probably wouldn't end well.

Kazehana had started flying with her wind to get to the inn faster and she was trying to figure out what to say to Miya in the morning about the absence of Minato. If she said that Karasuba had taken him to the tower, Miya would rush there and tear the place apart in search of Minato. It had been clear as day to Kazehana that the two cared for each other and with the loss of Takehito, Kazehana would be willing to bet that Miya would love to have Minato around for an indefinite amount of time. She landed on the road outside of the inn and was hesitant to go inside as she had seen the lights burning inside the inn, this would mean Miya was awake and she needed to have her story straight before she went in. Kazehana took a deep breath and went inside, deciding to tell just what Minato had said, and to leave out Karasuba entirely.

Miya heard the door open and strode to the door, meaning to give Minato an earful. She stopped when she saw that Kazehana had come in and was wearing a very serious face.

"What is it Kazehana?" Miya asked softly and stood in the hallway with her hands clasped together in front of her to stop them from trembling. Miya had a bad feeling about this, Minato was missing and Kazehanas face was locked in a poorly faked calm.

"Minato has left. Said he was sorry." Kazehana said quickly, not wanting to see Miya cry. She had turned around and was surprised when there were no sniffles or sobs, she glanced behind her and saw Miya standing there with nothing showing in her face. It was a stoic mask which had to be a lie.

"I..I see." Miya said plainly and walked back to the living room. Kazehana was shocked at the response of the woman, it was like Minato didn't even matter to her.

"I see?! Is that all you have to say Miya? I thought that he was like a brother to you." Kazehana near shouted as the stress of that night reached her boiling point. She had been shocked enough with the subservience Minato showed to Karasuba and now Miya acted like it didn't matter that Minato wouldn't come back.

"What more is there to say Kazehana? He wanted to leave so he left. It is obvious what his time here ment to him, so why would I consider it any differently?" Miya asked, the pain of Minato's leaving seeping in her voice.

"He didn't want to leave Miya, but he did. For our sake. And now I really want to know what is it that you have not been telling me about Minato. He gave me one hell of a shock tonight and I'm going to find out why." Kazehana said and paced in a circle around the living room. Miya lifted her brow at the indication that Minato was abducted, in a way.

"First you're going to tell me what happened tonight. It is obvious now that you left something out." She said in a heated manner. Kazehana nodded and went to grab a bottle of saké as this would be a long night, for the both of them. Kazehana told her everything she had seen and heard tonight, starting from the moment she had noticed Minato sneaking out of the inn. Miyas face turned more sour by the moment and when Kazehana got to the point where Karasuba left with Minato, she had gripped the table so hard that a piece broke from it. It took a great deal of self-restraint from Miya not to get her sword and go on a rampage, but both men in her life which she had ever held dear had told her to not use it again. If she would ever see Minato again, she would give him a piece if her mind and maybe a fist too.

After she had calmed down, Miya started to tell Kazehana what was the story behind Minato and what Minato had told to Miya and Takehito and what they had concluded from the messy story. She also told what they had pieced together from the way Minato had acted and how he had changed after Takehito had given him some rudimentary treatment with the limited resources available. Kazehana was blown away at the story and was badly shocked when she learned that all this had come from the devious mind of one Minaka Hiroto. She had left Miya alone in the living room and went to the roof with a couple of bottles of saké. Kazehana wanted to drink the pain away, the illusion of a kind and gentle man that she had known Minaka to be, blown to pieces from the awful way he had treated his own son. It had also been a shock to know that Minato was his son, but now she understood why she was so keen on teasing him and why she liked him even as she was heartbroken from the rejection Minaka had given her. Both women gazed at the night sky and wondered what would become of Minato and would they be able to see him again.

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When they entered the tower it was obvious to see that the people in the lobby was quite shocked. Minato was walking with a limp and a few cuts to his face and neck from the discipline Karasuba had given him during their trip back. She kicked him and cut him to tell him that she was deeply unhappy about the fact that Minato hadn't returned to the tower when he had woken up. Karasuba on the other hand was smiling happily and held her sword in Minatos side as a reminder to be a good boy and not try to run. Minato stared at the floor as he continued to walk toward the elevators Karasuba was leading them.

After the elevator ride, Minato found himself to be in a very familiar room. There was the ever-present dentist chair and the always smiling June Harmsworth, resident doctor and a source of countless mind altering concoctions Minato now knew she had given him.

"Minato-kun, so good to see you again. Please sit down, this will only take a minute." June said with her warm tone she always had. Minato limped to the chair and sat down, he knew it would be pointless to resist. There were nothing to do anymore than just to do what he was told and hope it would not hurt, not much at least. After he had sat down, Karasuba and June quickly tied him to it with the restraints and then Karasuba left the room while June took out a few capsules and syringes.

"Now, this wont hurt a bit Minato-kun, but you might feel a little sleepy as I'm sure you remember." June said and tied a rubber band in his arm to get his veins showing. Minato looked away from the woman and wondered would he be able to escape this place again, not that he would have any place to go since Kazehana had most certainly already told Miya everything he had said. She would be so pissed at him. The thought of the woman glaring at him with the hanya mask behind her made Minato smile a bit as few tears started to drop.

"Hmm, Minato-kun. Does this hurt that much?" June asked when she saw the tears. She was almost ready, as she had only one capsule to fill with Minato's blood and two syringes to pump inside him which would make him sleep and relax his muscles so he wouldn't be able to run if the narcotic wore off. Minato shaked his head, not wanting to say what was in his mind. After all was done, Minato felt the drowsiness wash over him and he succumbed to it. Escaping the bleak situation he was now in to the relative safety of dreams.

When June was sure that Minato was sleeping deeply, she pressed the call button in her desk and a few men in black suits came to pick up Minato. As they carried him to the Medlab 3, they strapped him inside a pod which was filled with clear fluid and the scientist there quickly inserted few tubes into him. It had been decided that Minato would go through a full scan to see what had happened to his body in his absence and then start new treatments the CEO would want to be conducted to the boy. But all of them knew that Minato's mind would be on the list of things to probe and alter.

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"Now gentlemen. What is the mystery of Minato that we have now acquired?" Minaka asked the scientist gathered around his office. There was a stack of papers in his desk but Minaka wanted to hear the things they had learned from the men themselves. As always it was the head of the project who cleared his throat and started to go through the papers.

"He is more stable now, in terms of physiology and psyche. I don't know who, but someone had given him some treatment when he was outside. From what we can gather from the blood samples and other tests, Minato is not as strong as he was when he was here but his stamina is better. This of course means that he would be more efficient in battle now and could quite well hold his own against a sekirei, which I believe was the point of this whole project." He said and went through his files to check that he hadn't forgotten anything.

"So he could beat a Sekirei in combat now?" Minaka asked for clarification. The project chief shaked his head.

"No, he wouldn't be able to beat a sekirei, just be able to avoid getting serious damage and possibly help his own sekirei in one way or another. He needs to be awake for follow-up tests on his speed, strength and stamina and for other test we need to do after that. He had to be kept in sleep as the pod he is now in, could well be too much for him as we now nothing of his mental state as of yet." He continued and had went through the points he wanted for this project. He was now waiting for instructions on how to continue on this matter before they moved on to how to treat injured sekirei better and what changes they needed to do with their adjusting as the younger sekirei were too small. They might be forced to use growth increasing substances and this brought its own problems to the mix.

"So wake him up then, and brainwash him totally. I want him to be ruthless, a dominant person in the relationship I'm thinking of putting him in and that wet sack of beans he is now is unacceptable." Minaka said and remembered to open the case file of Minato again, as the test was not a failure anymore.

"B-Brainwash sir?" The resident psychiatric asked from the far end of the table, being shocked about the way these people talked about a person. Not still used to things as he had started only a week ago.

"Yes, brainwash. Destroy his personality and build a new one. And before you start bawling about human rights and all that. Minato had signed a contract and he is legally dead. We can do what ever we want to him and if you want your family to have a job, you will do what ever I want to him." Minaka said with an edge in his voice, he didn't like to be questioned. Well if Takami did it, it wasn't so bad but this snotnose had no business to tell him what to do. The sekirei plan was a gift from gods and so anything was permissible as one does not go against gods. Minaka told the psychiatrist that much before dismissing the group.

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"Minaka, is it true?" Takami asked the man after their meeting was done. She was feeling anxious as she had heard that the project phoenix had been opened again and when she had checked the computer, she had seen the file opened and the big letters that had said failure was gone.

"Is what true Takami-kun?" Minaka asked in an amused chuckle as he was taking enjoyment of the plain discomfort of Takami as she battled between wanting to hit him and ask him for a favor.

"That you have Minato back, that you're going to resume the project." Takami asked quietly. She was furious at the man for a lot of things but she wanted to see Minato in the flesh so badly. She had wanted that after she had seen him alive in the man's computer screen.

"Why yes, of course. Why wouldn't I continue as the test subject is now safely back in our hands. Would you like to see him?" Minaka asked deciding to give the woman something to look forward to as a means to make her work harder. The new sekirei that had awoken needed to be processed swiftly to get them up to date. It would be after two years, one year away from the starting of the plan, as he would release a small and selected group of sekirei to find their Ashikabi in the city. He wanted to see if their bonds would make them stronger or weaker, as this would be a real blast like the youngsters would say.

"Of course I would LIKE to see him, he's my son." Takami fumed at Minaka. She was already pissed about the fact that Minato was in the building and she hadn't been told. All she had heard was office rumors and the file that had been reopened. Minaka gave her a paperslip with the place they were holding Minato.

When she reached Medlab 3, she practically threw out the scientist there and locked the door behind them. Slowly walking towards the pod he was in, she was starting to feel hesitant. What right did she have to interfere with his life again? She asked herself and stroked Minatos cheek which was behind the plastic feeling pod they had salvaged from the sekirei ship. "I'm sorry Minato, If I could take it all back I would." Takami said quietly to her son while she wept for her inability to help him. She left after a few minutes and told the scientist who were waiting behind the locked door that she would be back when Minato was awake, and there is nothing they could say or do to stop her. The glare in Takami's eyes made the group nod in agreement, they were afraid of the woman who had been in all of their necks and had the power to make good on her threats.

Minato opened his eyes as he heard someone say their sorry. He looked around but saw only blackness and nothing more. If he strained his ears, he could hear muffled voices and whispers. He started to walk forward to find something or someone as a means to keep himself oriented. The blackness of the place he was in was making him feel very uncomfortable. After walking for almost an hour, he had counted seconds keep in track of the passage of time, he saw a door and light come under it. He rushed to the door and for a moment, dreaded to open it. Making his mind on not staying in the darkness, he swinged the door open slowly and was taken back by the sight. It was the living room of Maison Izumo and inside was Miya crying.

"Miya-neechan. What's wrong? Why are you crying?" Minato asked and walked towards his adopted sister, worry growing in his heart for the woman. Miya lifted her head and watched Minato with eyes full of sadness and hurt.

"It was your fault. you're the reason I'm alone. If it weren't for you, Takehito would still be alive." Minato heard Miya say with a coarse voice. His eyes widened and face grew pale at the accusation.

"Wh-What are you saying Miya-neechan?" Minato asked with shocked voice that was hard to hear even in the silence. Miya's eyes started to blaze in hatred and she rose quickly.

"It's because you were Minaka's toy that Takehito was dragged into this mess and that is what killed him! Stop calling me your sister. I hate you! Leave and don't come back or I'll kill you! LEAVE!" Miya started angrily and ended her words with a shout, not giving Minato any time to reply to her. He started to say something back but the attempt was quickly killed by Miya, who was now pulling her katana out of its wooden sheath and never had Minato see the edge of the weapon gleam with so much malice. Minato's mouth opened and closed as he strained to say something, and Miya ended all possibilities of reconciliation with a quick strike that would have cut Minatos head clean off if he hadn't dodged it.

"LEAVE BASTARD, OR THE NEXT ONE WON'T MISS!" She was now yelling with all the anger she could muster and started to flail with the sword, not caring who or what would get in the way of her blade. Minato turned and ran, feeling shocked and scared of the gentle woman he had loved as a sister and a companion. She was angry at him and didn't want to see him again. Minato would have laughed if the situation hadn't been so terrible, this time it wasn't him that was betrayed. No, this time it was him who betrayed.

Outside of the pod, the scientist saw Minato twitch and shake. Checking the machines, they saw that his heart rate was up and adrenalin levels were quickly rising. They didn't want Minato to wake up just yet, so they had to put him into a drug induced coma for the rest of their tests. Still Minato would twitch and have spasms but not so roughly and his vitals stayed normal.

Akitsu pulled her head back behind the corner. 'That was Minato, I know that face. It had to be Minato.' She thought as she quickly made way back to her room, surprising the workers on the floor as they were not accustomed of her being so lively. So far they had seen her as unresponsive and cold towards herself and others. Even the test they did on her would not rouse any reaction from the woman and now something had agitated her. This would need further study they all decided but it was forgotten instantly when the next order of Minaka came crashing down from the top. Make Minato, the test subject in Lab 3 to a machine made for fighting. Remove any emotions that would make him vulnerable in combat, he was now being prepped as a leader of the Disciplinary Squad and there were no room for compassion or remorse in it.

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So here is another chapter. Sorry for the somewhat long posting time but one has to work for a living, sadly. I was blown away you guys, really? 39 reviews and 3,3k views. Mindblowing, I'm a happy panda that so many of you like this story and continue to read it ^^ Don't know how long it will take to post another chapter as I need to get brewing on a few chaps on my FMA fic, which I think is somewhat similar to this one. If you were wondering. And onwards to this other part I don't know what to call! Ah, one more thing. I will most likely have Minato wing his first and maybe last sekirei in the next two chaps. just to keep you interested :D

Assassin 2.0: I'm really thinking about making Uzume one of his sekireis, but i don't even know if Minato will have more than one. Probably will but you never know, not so keen on Yume. She is too close to being Musubi, in my opinion even though they are two different characters. And granted, Yume is a bit of a unused territory.

Killshot743: Good that you like and I hope this lives up to your expectations!

the DragonBard: I don't know if it will. So far, I don't see it being but I'm not going to write it off just yet.

FreeTraderBeowolf: Good that you liked the timeskip. Honestly, I was first afraid that it was too long and then I started to worry about it being too short. But then again I wanted to show what's what before the sekirei plan starts rolling in big time. And sadly no Miya Vs Karasuba but it's coming. I have a few things in mind already ^^

DanTheJIGGERMAN: Happy to see that my writing is to your liking and keeps you in the edge of your seat, so to speak. As for Miya x Minato, I don't know if it will grow into something more than just sibling-like love but I'm not against it.

Ebo372: I will not, sadly for you, make him wing both. That would be just suicidal. Those two do not go along in my head, not one bit. Karasuba has hate filled jealousy towards Miya who in turn hates Karasuba for being a sadistic homicidal psycopath.


	7. Chapter 7

I don't own sekirei or anything sekirei related

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Minato was laying down and even with the regular noises of the regular world were there, he was afraid to open his eyes. He was afraid to be back in the darkness, to be haunted and blamed again and again. Miya had tried to kill him and even if he told himself that it was just a dream, he couldn't help but feel that it was how Miya was feeling. Minato had betrayed her trust by leaving without a word, he had always thought of himself being responsible for the death of Takehito. He was sure that Minaka had called Takehito to the tower that day to tell him to give up Minato, and when he had refused Minaka killed him. He had been shocked to see Yukari crying even when he hadn't seen her in years and that was making it worse. That was another trust he had broken along with a heart. Yukari was no doubt heartbroken about Minato abandoning her and not even sending a letter or calling.

Minato had kicked himself over and over again because of these seemingly small things he had no power over but felt responsible for. Then the darkness had come and made all his earlier fears into a semi-reality and all too clear to him that nobody actually cared for him. His mother had brought him to this place and then just left him there to be beaten and god knows what else but Minato wasn't angry about that anymore. How could he be, he had done the same for Yukari and Miya. He had promised Miya to be with her so she wouldn't be alone and he had promised Yukari to call once a week. He started to cry silently when the ache in his heart and mind became too much to bear. All the while, the seemingly calm mind he had composed was starting to crack.

The scientists in the room saw the tears and quickly brought out the sedatives. They knew how bad things could get if Minato got angry and left on his own and deep grief that his tears and brainwaves were showing was a thing they did not want experience first hand even if they didn't know what he would do. Just the threat of what he COULD do was enough to make them wary of the man. In the adjoining room, the young psychiatric was prepairing the first vial of mind altering drugs Minato was to be injected with and his hand was shaking as he knew that he was about to be responsible of the destruction and reconstruction of a human being.

It made things even worse as he knew the sister of said human that was laying down in the bed, he had been her counselor when the news had struck home with Yukari Sahashi and she broke down in the middle of her school. It was a year of intense treatment with her that had finally gotten Yukari on her feet and even resemble the cheery girl she had been and now he was feeling actually happy that Yukari would never know what he was about to do. It was even more ironic that because of the success with Yukari, he had been offered a job at the M.B.I and because of that he was now well on his way to his personal hell. With a heavy sigh, he checked the dosages and started to prepare for the next batch, even if he didn't know when Minato's mind would be stable enough to have the second one after the first was injected.

It was a bad idea to tamper with a mind that had been tampered with already. They were not doing this to fix his mind but to brake it more and that was dangerous. Minaka had ordered him to change his personality without memory loss and that was proving to be near impossible, as the boy's records showed that his personality was already split and the dominant one was still not clear. He was stable now, thanks to who ever had worked on him while he had been away from there but one mistake here could make that work be for nothing. He glanced at the boy through the window of the medical equipment room he was in and steadied himself. 'Here we go Minato-kun. Hope you will forgive me someday.' He thought to himself and went to inject the first of many injections he would give the boy. Just as he was about to enter the room when a tall woman with brown eyes and brown hair stopped in front of him.

"I will give the injection, Ryysuke-san. He was and is my patient and I don't want you to mess things up." June said to the visibly shaken young man and took the syringe out of his hand.

"B-But I was supposed to give the treatment." He protested weakly, being glad on the inside that he was now able to get away from the situation.

"Yes you were, and I can see that you're not cut out to do this so I will administer the treatment while you prep it. You are still too new here and not used to the work." June said with a hint of compassion in her voice. Ryysuke nodded and slumped his shoulders. Turning around, he exited the treatment room and went straight to his office to smoke a cigarette, even if he was supposed to be quitting. June walked next to Minato and smiled gently at his unconscious form.

"Hello Minato-kun. It's me again. Nobody but me will see this anguish and nobody but me will give you it. As you are my puppet, and no one elses." She whispered to Minato and injected the contents of the vial into his neck while kissing him in the cheek.

"Yes, all you have is my treatment and all you will ever get is my treatment." She said obsessively and walked back to the equipment room to put the vial and the syringe into the disinfection sink to be cleaned. June then left the treatment facility and went to her office to write a report to her own file about Minato and an other report to the file Minaka would be seeing.

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Akitsu was walking around her room, thinking about the conversation she had had with Takami about Minato. She had been furious at Takami lying about the death of her only friend and ecstatic that she hadn't lost him. Now she was debating about going to see Minato or not, as she was not sure he could even remember her. The thought of that made her feel cold and dead inside as she had been after she had been told that Minato would not be coming to see her again. Akitsu knew that she was the point of all attention where ever she went as she was the discarded number, unable to be a normal sekirei and that made people to avoid her. It was good in a way since she would be left on her own, nobody wanted to ask why she was where she was and that had led to the fact that nobody paid attention to her.

This only ment the staff of the scientific research floor however, not the guards or the military who were also strolling around the floors, even if they knew to leave her be as they had learned that she would not give them "fun times" or she would not want to have "a good night". The first the had tried, was now unable to have children and would be lucky if he would be able to perform properly, which did mean nothing to Akitsu as she did not concern herself with the military or guards anymore. But because she had done what she had done, they were now keeping an eye out for her, most likely to get some revenge. Sometimes Akitsu wished that they would attack, that would have given her an outlet for her stress and all the feelings she kept inside since she was forbidden from training as she was not a part of the sekirei plan anymore. The ice queen was the name they had given her as a result of her emotionless form and even Akitsu saw the irony of the fact that she was now panicking about seeing her long-lost and long thought dead friend.

Benitsubasa was training with Haihane, and the fact made it painfully obvious that Haihane would be sent to attitude adjustment as she was being too subservient and afraid of the strength Benitsubasa was showing. At first it had not been a problem as Benitsubasa was still in adjusting and the difference between them was not that great. But when it had been discovered that Benitsubasa was suddenly taking the adjustments more faster and efficiently than before, thanks to the gene mapping machine they had found in the ship, they had sped up the treatments for Benitsubasa as a test to see if they could cut the time needed to spend with one sekireis adjusting to possibly make the plan start before schedule. Haihane on the other hand had problems with her adjusting. One of the new staff members had done something wrong with Haihane's adjusting and that had done something inside her brain which had, quite frankly, made her a bit dumb.

She could not always remember where her claws were or the fact that she had them on which made her stab herself and that was the reason most of her body was in bandages. Because Haihane knew that she wasn't all that bright, she was now embarrassed and afraid of the faster thinking Benitsubasa which in turn made her want to please the other sekirei. This did not sit well with the pride of Benitsubasa as she felt that Haihane was making a mockery of her strength and abilities. When Benitsubasa heard that Minato was back, she was happy that he was back. He was a better sparring partner in terms of battle techniques and he really tried to beat her every time. Even if she could not use her full strength against him, she would want to fight him just to change the pace from Haihane, who thought that fighting with Benitsubasa would only end well with her loss and Benitsubasa's victory. When Benitsubasa entered the office of Takami Sahashi, she was going to speak about her wish to fight against Minato, even if it meant that she would need to beg for it as she was fed up with Haihane now. Their last sparring match had just ended and she had won without putting even half of her concentration on the fight.

"Takami-sensei. When do you think Minato would be able to fight me?" She asked straight away as she walked to the desk of the other woman and slammed her hands on the desk to stress her wish.

"I don't know Tsubasa and if what I'm suspecting is right, you won't be." Takami said with a strained voice. She was still feeling sick about the treatments Minato would be put through and for a millionth time she was silently praying that Minaka would just let her family be. She was still debating whether she should tell Yukari that her brother was alive. Weighing the fact of how broken she had been after the news of Minato's death and the fight they had had and the most probable fact of Minaka not letting Minato out of his sight again, would mean that Yukari would know of Minato but would be unable to see him if she told her.

Only the off chance of Yukari running into Minato would mean that she would learn of him being alive was on the other cup of the scales in her mind. Takami knew that Yukari had decided to attend to the women's university after her schooling in home would be done, just to be closer to her as she was Yukari's now only living relative and her mother was the biggest factor on Yukari's wish to come to Tokyo. Benitsubasa saw clearly that Takami was troubled but the fact that she was her teacher and a mentor in a way made it harder to breach the parent-child relationship they had.

"Tsubasa. Do you remember the promise you made me?" Takami asked as a plan was formulating in her mind, it was a daring one and it would take at least a year to pull off but it would be for the benefit of Minato and Yukari.

"The one about helping Min-kun?" Benitsubasa asked as that was the only promise she remembered making with Takami.

"Yes, I will still hold you for it. And the time when I need you to do it is coming closer." Takami said with a resolute voice as she had came to a decision. She would get Minato out of there and out of Minaka's reach and she would also use any means necessary to do it. Benitsubasa only nodded as she didn't know what had happened but the almost satisfied gleam in Takami's eyes made her drop the issue as she hadn't seen her so full of energy ever since Minato had disappeared a few years back. She felt regret that she wasn't able to help then and she really hadn't even cared for Minato or anything related to Minato back then as she had been so focused on building her own strength and had felt that Minato was dragging her down, just like Haihane was now.

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Minato was walking in a dark corridor, panting heavily. He had run and tried to find anything to have as a landmark in the never ending darkness, although he was happy that at least it was a corridor now and not just an big open space. He turned a corner and saw a door with faint blue light coming underneath it. Slowly walking towards the door, he was feeling nervous as it was not the light he had seen behind the door which usually led him into the inn and the accusations and finally killing attempts of Miya. Minato opened the door and saw a room what could have easily been inside some sort of medical facility, it was a guards room with multiple monitors and a chair in front of them. The faint blue light had come from the monitors and as Minato walked closer to them, he saw familiar faces in them. There were Miya inside a room with an iron maiden and she was inside there screaming for help and cursing Minato for leaving her alone in that room. Yukari was tied to a hospital bed, crying for him and asking why he didn't ever answer to her and Minato saw her tears were bloody. He was shocked at the sight and then the whispers started. 'It's your fault Minato, you left them alone. You're the reason they are like that. Admit it, you did it all.'

The voices kept repeating the words over and over as the monitors started to show Takehito, Akitsu. Benitsubasa and Takami along with Miya and Yukari, always shouting how he had left them, how he was the reason they were alone and betrayed. Minato was sobbing and silently pleading anyone who were listening to stop the voices and that it was not his fault. Falling to his knees, he was horrified and still unable to move away from the room, like all the strength from his legs were taken away. Suddenly he felt arms twine around his neck and warm breath tickled his ear.

"I can make them all go away Minato. All you need to do is close your eyes and trust me." The gentle female voice from behind him whispered to his ear. Minato was staring at the screens.

"You can stop this? I don't have to see this anymore?" He asked with a trembling voice. Minato was at the end of his rope, he didn't know how long he had been there and he didn't know how many times the darkness enveloping him had shown him all the pain and fear he kept hiding inside himself. He was growing tired to resist the temptation he had been offered since the third time he had been in there. It was always the same, trust the voice and all of this would go away. He was scared of what would happen to him but it was scaring him less and less.

"That's right Minato. Just give in and let June make it all go away." June whispered at Minato's ear after injecting the third vial into his neck. Ryysuke had said that she should wait for the stabilization of the boy's mind but the agony in his face was too good to pass and so she had injected all three syringes with only two days between the shots. After the first one Minato had started to talk in his sedated state, not being completely under but not completely wake either. June had started to talk to him and suggest that Minato would just let go of everything and leave it to her.

"I...I don't want to see this anymore. June-san, please make it stop. I-I can't stand this." Minato said and lowered his head so he couldn't see the monitors anymore and as he closed his eyes, all the voices stopped and the blue light faded to nothingness. 'This is what I wanted. Peace. Silence. No more guilt.' He thought for the last time as he fell into the dark abyss that swallowed him whole. June smiled at the words and brought the fourth vial into Minato's lips as it was meant to be digested so it would stay in his bloodstream longer and make the procedure permanent.

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Takami was standing in front of the big screen in her office and the coffee mug she had held dropped from her hands to the floor and shattered to pieces. She couldn't even feel the hot coffee splashing to her feet as the words now in the screen had stopped her brain dead on its tracks. Subject undergone the hastened process and the test ended in complete success. Minato Sahashi was now a new person, no traces from previous personality present. She whispered silently no and dropped to her knees crying.

Minaka smiled in glee at the screen and almost yelled yes. The test was a success, now he had to only see how the personality change would change his way of fighting. Deciding upon putting him first against the teacher who had taught him when the project started and wait for the results. He was happy as this was the first time something concerning Minato had gone as planned. This was a good day indeed, now all he needed to decide was when and who would be the first sekirei he could wing Minato with. Minaka had already decided that Minato would be the Ashikabi of the Disciplinary Squad but other than Karasuba, he hadn't decided the sekirei who would be in the squad. Benitsubasa showed promise with her strength but she tended to be too headstrong. Maybe winging would calm her down a bit in that regard, Haihane was also an option but she was being too meek for his tastes and put on her file a notification to undergo attitude adjustment to make her more confident and keen to fight. What was a battle royal without fighters, though he intended to keep a few meeks ones like Kuno #95 just for the sake of entertainment for seeing sekirei like her struggle.

Matsu was walking towards the room where Takami was living when she heard the sobbing from the laboratory which doubled as her office. She hadn't ever seen Takami being emotional about anything and so the sobs were piquing her interest and she went to the door of the office. Pressing her ear against the door she heard the sobs become clearer, some one was crying inside there. It could be anybody but not many of Takami's underlings and co-workers came to that floor as they were afraid of the strict woman. Opening the door, Matsu saw Takami kneeling in a puddle of coffee and hiding her face behind her hands. Walking slowly inside she noticed that the big screen had a file open about a Project Phoenix and the latest test had been a success. 'Why would Takami be crying about a success in test? Shouldn't she be happy about adverting another failure.' Matsu kneeled next to Takami and was thinking on how she could get the woman's attention without scaring her as she was totally unaware about her surroundings. She cleared her throat and the sound made Takami jump a little and stop the sobbing. Wiping her eyes, she turned her head towards the voice and glared at Matsu as she recognized her.

"What are you doing here Matsu?" She asked with a coarse voice, still heavy from her crying.

"I came to see you Takami-san. But I can see this is a bad time and I can come again, unless you want some company." Matsu said with a voice which indicated that she was serious and not being her normal perverted self. Takami considered about her offer and that was all the more indication that she needed to get drunk and fast.

"No thank you Matsu. I don't need company." Takami said and rose from the puddle, trying to regain her composure. She turned her head to see what time it was and saw that Minato's file was still open in the big screen and hurriedly switched it off.

"You didn't see anything Matsu, is that clear." She said with a voice that promised Matsu a lot of discomfort if she would divulge anything she'd seen there to anyone. Matsu knew how important it was to Takami to keep her face with her co-workers as they were like a pack of wolves when it came to getting to the good side of Minaka.

"Of course Matsu didn't see anything Takami-tan. Matsu only walked in and saw that Takami-tan was still awake and came to talk." Matsu said, reverting to her normal habit of speaking she had picked up when she had hooked up to the internet with her ability for the first time. Takami nodded at the statement and lit her cigarette. Matsu rose from the floor and made her way toward the door and bid Takami a good night. 'Now what? I can't ask help from Takami-tan now. But I need to dig up some information about the Project Phoenix, what ever it was it shooked her up bad.' Matsu thought and started to make way to the computer room she had occupied when she had left the original Disciplinary Squad that had been on the Kamikura Island. After Miya and Mutsu had left, she had asked to be let off the island and had been given access to the Tower but nowhere else. That was the reason she had tampered with the recordings about her room. Since nobody came to check on her, she had looped the footage from her room and moved to the unused computer room on the lower levels of the tower.

As she opened her computer and started going through the firewalls of the files under the projects name, the multitude of protection they had was astounding to her. Not even the templates about the plan she had found had been so well protected. This only made her try harder about discovering the truth behind the project as it quickly came an obsession to her.

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Minato was standing on top of the mangled body of his teacher. He looked down on the body with a bored looked on his face. The man hadn't even been a proper opponent to him, he was too slow and too weak to do anything. He left the man on the floor and walked toward the room he had lived in for a week now. Entering the shower he wondered again why he couldn't remember anything before the time he had woken up in the strange room with people he didn't know. They had told him that his name was Minato and he was training to be a leader of a Disciplinary Squad and that's why they had pitted him agains the old man. Even as he felt content to the way he was living as he had food and clothes and a job, he couldn't help feeling that something was amiss.

After he got out of the shower, he picked up his card which gave him access to the lower levels of the tower he was living in. He went to the elevator and pushed his card inside the slot which ordered the elevator to his floor. Even if the card gave him access to the tower, it was only the lower levels. He couldn't get any higher than the floor he was living in which was, according to the panel in the elevator, the 5th subfloor. The subfloors went all the way down to 20 but the four last floors were clearly storage and the six floors before that were some kind of labs. He didn't like going down to the labs as he was awoken on one of the rooms in the lab and there was this gray haired woman who made his head throb and chest ache when she looked at him with a hopeless look on her face.

He had tried to talk to her once, but she had just rushed away from him and that was the last time he was even able to take a step towards her without making her leave hurriedly or to turn completely another direction. The floor where he was going now was the eight subfloor, there were barracks there and the soldiers there were always good sparring company. And because of her. When Minato had seen the gray haired woman with gray eyes, his heart had started pounding and the eyes had captivated him. There were something in the eyes that just made it impossible for him to look away and after that, he had taken a habit of going down there. Minato had a feeling that a fight with her would be exciting, unlike the old geezer who had been his opponent for the week. Hopefully now, when he had finally decided to beat the shit out of him, they would give him someone proper to fight against. No fight without getting you blood pumping was a good fight. Minato frowned at the feeling of wrongness he got when thoughts like that came to his mind and it puzzled him. Why would he feel like it was wrong of him to do these things even as this was the whole reason he had given the job in the first place.

He had tried to think about it but as he didn't even remember his past well, and the reason for that was a bad accident during training. He had been left under a falling wall when a sudden earthquake had hit the tower and apparently his memory had been lost that day. The doctor who had told that to him also said that his memory would probably never return as the parts in his brains that held those memories were damaged, this would also explain the headaches he got when he tried to remember and so he had stopped thinking and just started to train his body and mind in the mixed martial arts the old man was teaching. When it was clear that his movements were still on the same level as they were before the accident, they had started sparring.

Opening the door to the barracks, he noticed immediately that the soldiers were standing in attention and around the big tatami mat inside there. Minato elbowed his way to the ringside and saw the gray haired woman making a mess out of one of the soldiers there.

"What's the reason for this?" He asked one of the soldiers next to him.

"Johnson was stupid enough to insult Karasuba." The soldier answered him and Minato closed his eyes as a flashes of bloodied corpses and a woman being impaled through her throat went through his mind at the mention of the name. He shaked his head and wondered what that was all about but he was quickly brought out of his thinkings as he saw that Johnson was just about to meet his doom. Minato saw from the posture of Karasuba that she was getting ready to kill him and it would probably be messy. He took a few steps backwards from the ringside and gave the advice to the others as he was sure that blood was about to fly. The familiarity of the woman was bugging him and the posture he was now seeing, for the first time for his knowing, was really familiar to him.

The soldier attacked Karasuba and with a flick of her wrist and a sidestep it was over. Johnson was lying on the mat without a head and Karasuba was smiling at the blood spreading on it. Minato looked at the bloodied blade on the womans hand and felt his excitement rise. He walked to the wall with the weapons and took a wakizashi as it was a familiar weapon to him. He had been told that it was his favorite and it really did feel like it was a part of his hand. Stepping inside the ring, he got a lot of attention and the murmur of the soldiers made Karasuba turn her head away from the pool of blood. Her mouth widened to a smile and there were a flash in her eyes that made the soldiers take a step back and Minato broke to a grin.

"Min-chan. You have finally recovered and you already want to be beaten?" Karasuba asked gently, being pleased at the prospect of cutting Minato once again.

"I was thinking of asking you to spar with me Karasuba." Minato answered. Karasuba's smile got a wicked feeling to it and the slight twitch of her sword hand made Minato think that he had insulted the woman.

"Karasuba-sama. I'm still not fully recovered as my memory has been lost but most of my skills are still there. I apologize if I insulted you." Minato said quickly after he had noticed that he really had insulted the woman. The smile on Karasuba's face went back to the gentle one she always had and that promised pain. The smile made Minato smile even if he didn't know why and the fact that he was standing right in front of her and her weapon made his heart beat only faster and faster. He was going to enjoy this. Minato knew that he was going to be beaten and by the way Karasuba handled the soldier, he was going to be beaten badly. It didn't scare him, it only made him want to fight more and a part of his brain was stuck on this is wrong mode.

"Yara yara Min-chan. I thought you would never gather enough balls to challenge me. Don't expect me to hold back even if you're still not healed as I don't give a fuck about humans." Karasuba said with the same tone she had talked before. It was like she wasn't even insulting you, just saying what was the truth and then it hit Minato. Karasuba was able to do what she did without batting an eye because she didn't really give a fuck about humans. He had a feeling that Karasuba wasn't human but the thought didn't bother him for some reason. Minato knew that he should be troubled about the fact but it didn't matter to him at the moment. Only the prospect of a fight was what mattered, the only worrying thing was the headache that was coming on but he shrugged it off. It would go away when the fight started and that was all he needed to know.

"Well then Karasuba-sama. Should we start?" Minato asked and went to the ready stance. Karasuba ordered one of the soldiers to throw something on the ring to start the match and went to a ready stance. Helmet flew to the ring and both of the fighters sprung into action. Karasuba was surprised at the sudden attack Minato was taking, slow it was but Minato hadn't attacked her even once when they had had their sparring matches but here he was now, trying to slash the small blade at her chest. She smiled and blocked the slash while she kicked Minato in the stomach and brought her free hand to his forehead. Minato sprawled to the floor but quickly rolled backwards, evading the downward slash from Karasuba.

"Ooh, you have learned something Min-chan." Karasuba said happily and went back to the ready stance once more. Minato bowed and went to his ready stance. They watched each others eyes for awhile and attacked once more. This time Minato made a faint with his free hand and he expected Karasuba to deflect it but she caught it instead. With a crushing force, she squeezed his hand and pulled him towards her. Minato was surprised and felt a burning feeling in his side and when he turned his head to see what it was, the blade of the sword was sliding along his side and then he felt an explosion in the side of his head. He was sent flying backwards and saw that the explosion had been the sound of flesh hitting flesh as Karasuba has struck him on the head with her fist. Minato rose to his feet and pressed his wound with his free hand, changing the hand he held the wakizashi in. He was almost at his ready stance again when Karasuba's kick connected to his groin. Minato's eyes rolled in his head and he dropped to the floor like a wet rag. Karasuba smiled at the boy and walked away from the ring, ordering the soldiers to tie up his wound and take him back to his apartment. Karasuba was glad that Minato was being aggressive and that had saved the boy today, as she had been angry at the gall of the him to actually challenge him to a fight.

He had improved and the match he was supposed to have with Benitsubasa and Haihane next week would undoubtedly be entertaining. Benitsubasa and Haihane was almost sure to loose as they didn't have the same kind of reflexes Minato had. They were faster and stronger but she was the reason Minato's reflexes worked like in a real battle, where it was always the matter of life and death as was sparring with her. The thought of seeing more blood and pain on the ring next week was bringing the wicked grin back to her face as she walked inside the office of Kenshin, who's head was still sitting in the desk.

"Ne, Kenshin. Don't you think this is going to be a good month?" Karasuba asked the head and planted herself in the chair and started to sharpen her sword again. The head only stared at her with it's empty eyes as always and Karasuba thought this was better. He had talked too much and now he was like humans were supposed to be. Dead and silent.

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Minato woke in his room and wondered for a while as how he got there but soon remember the beating he had given. Smiling at the match, he rose from the bed and went to his kitchen to make something to eat. It had been a first match against an opponent who was challenging to fight, sure he had gone to the fight knowing he was going to lose but he had just felt like he needed to get it out of his system. He ate a few sandwiches and then went to his personal training space to go through motions with his wakizashi and trying to remember why he thought of a woman with purple hair and white kimono when he did that. His chest felt warm at the sight of the woman but he also felt dread and it was the most puzzling fact he had ever felt while being inside the tower. He worked up a sweat and went to the shower, remembering to take off his bandage and putting a new one on when exiting. He still didn't feel sleepy even if he had been working out most of the day, he looked at his clock and saw that it was almost time for lights being shut in the complex.

It had been the first strange thing he had experienced as it was something he didn't remember but his body did. His body had started to get sluggish usually around ten but he was too full of energy to sleep tonight. Minato decided to go for a stroll around the tower to see what was going on there at night for no better reason than to just keep him walking and trying to get sleepy. He was remembering the fight with Karasuba and there were times when scenes flashed through his mind at the same time when he remembered a certain strike the woman had used. 'She knows who I am, of that I'm sure but why is it so hard to remember anyone? Faces are familiar but I have no idea why and is it really all because of the accident?" Minato asked these questions to himself and walked with out taking notice where he was walking.

"Minato." He heard a faint voice which brought him out of his thoughts and as he looked around him, he saw a woman clad in white and with a weird symbol on her forehead. The symbol was so familiar to him and it brought a girl writhing in pain and asking for water to his mind. Minato stared at the woman so intensly that she began to fidget. Blushing he looked at the floor and wondered silently who she was and how beautiful she was. She had called him by name and it was now starting to irritate Minato that he couldn't remember such an astounding woman. There had been two actually now, both Karasuba and this woman were somehow related to him and he had no idea why. Minato had decided already that asking things from Karasuba was dangerous and even if that didn't bother him, he was sure that he could get some answers from this woman without getting beaten in the process.

"You know who I am?" Minato asked and started to walk towards the woman. She nodded and stood still.

"How do we know each other? I had an accident and lost my memory." He said and stopped right in front of the woman.

"You helped me. I was in pain and thirsty and you brought me water. Then we slept together." Akitsu said with short sentences as she was not that used to talking with others. Even when Minato had been there for her in the past, they usually didn't talk that much as Akitsu was happy to have company that didn't cause her pain or discomfort.

"Ah. Well I'm glad we have met in better terms then." Minato said with a smile. 'Why is it that this means nothing to me? Shouldn't it feel good to see a friend doing better than she was? Is this because I don't remember her?' He questioned himself and kept looking at Akitsu, not realizing that there were a silence between them as neither of the two were speaking. They only stared at each other and Akitsu was fidgeting because she had no idea how to interact with people.

"Want to come to my room?" Was the only thing that Akitsu could think of to say. She had been walking the corridors randomly and going up and down stairs but she was fairly certain at where her room was. Akitsu usually walked around the tower at night as it was the only time where she could walk around and not be stared at even if the stares were always aimed at her back. When she walked, she was either stared behind her back or ignored all together, it depended on where she was walking. Minato nodded and started to walk beside Akitsu, determined to learn more of himself. He was certain that there were something the staff in the tower was not telling him and maybe this woman could tell him what it was. If not, he got to spend a portion of the night with a beautiful woman. Win win situation as he had heard the soldiers describe a situation like this. Akitsu was nervous for the first time in her life, and she didn't know why. She had shared a bed with Minato before and the room had been far worse place than the room she was living in now.

When they arrived at the room, Akitsu walked in and left the door open for Minato but she soon stopped walking as she didn't hear footsteps enter behind her. She looked at the door and saw Minato standing in the door frame rubbing his temples.

"Are you alright Minato?" She asked and took a step towards him and then Minato fell to the floor unconscious. Akitsu hurried to Minato's side and lifted him up. She carried him to her bed and laid him there to rest and for a minute thought about calling for the staff to come check on him. Akitsu decided against that when she heard that Minato's breathing was normal. Laying down next to him, Akitsu positioned herself in the familiar place she had slept in for awhile when she was younger. Right on Minato's side with his arm around her, and then for the first time in years a small smile entered her lips and she fell asleep.

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Matsu was reading the files she had finally opened from the project index she had found after getting past all the firewalls and other protection around the whole thing that was on the company's network, labeled as Project Phoenix. She read all about Minato and the treatment he had been put through and now she knew why Takami had cried in the room. Her own son was the guinea pig for his father and her former lover. Looking back at the plan she had come up with at the other computer she had on, she was beginning to think that she should somehow escape and grab Minato with her. No matter what happened, anything would be better than this thing Minaka was planning for the young boy. Matsu immediately realized that she would need help, she could not take a part of the Jinki with her along with Minato just by herself. She was about to let go of the idea of taking Minato away from the tower when she read about Akitsu, the discarded number being a friend with Minato along with Benitsubasa. Benitsubasa could be a problem since there were talking around the tower that she was a potential third generation Disciplinary Squad member. The only one left in there were Karasuba. Yume had been a part of it after Miya and the rest left it but she gave her life to save one of the younger sekirei who were still in stasis but on the road to recovery.

'I need to talk to Takami-tan about this.' Matsu thought to herself for the hundredth time. She had found it difficult to talk to the woman about her plan to escape as she knew Takami had been close to Minaka but her fears were for nothing. Matsu knew for a fact that Takami would not tell Minaka anything, not after what he had put Minato through and she hoped that Takami would let her help. It was a long shot but Matsu was almost sure that she could be of help to Minato in regards of repairing his mind. Nothing could be done to his body and she wasn't even sure if she would done anything about it if she could. Minato was better of with the assimilated sekirei cells in his body. It made him stronger and sturdier not to mention faster than a human. Deciding to talk to Takami that day, she printed out her plan and destroyed the file in the computer and quickly exited the computer room.

Ten minutes later she was standing right outside the office of Takami, as she had made sure with her portable information tool that she had jerry rigged to the network that Takami was indeed in her office and not down the labs. Knocking on the door, she let out a sigh and tried to calm her nerves. Matsu was about to ask the leading force in the care of sekirei to help her escape along with her son and probably with two other sekirei. Matsu knew that Akitsu would be wanting to leave as she had been objected to the same kind if not worse treatment than Minato and even more so she would help if Matsu said that she would be helping Minato to get off from the tower.

"Come in." Takami shouted after clearing her desk from the hasty plans she had thought of helping Minato to get out and to undo the mental blocks that had been changed into a new personality. She was glad that she had pressured Ryysuke about the treatments and had been then rewarded with the information about what was happening to Minato and what could be done in hopes of undoing it. Takami lifted an eyebrow as she saw Matsu walking in with a few sheets of paper on one hand and a very nervous look on her face.

"What is it Matsu?" She asked almost angrily as she was sure that the sekirei woman was there only to try lift the blockade around the connections that would have given her access outside the tower. Matsu fidgeted a bit and then she planted the four sheets of paper in front of Takami. She knew that Minaka would have Takami's office bugged, since it could be rather certain that Takami was hating him with a passion and had written her suggestion to paper when she was in the elevator on her way to the floor where Takami lived. Takami's eyes widened as she saw that Matsu had had the same idea about getting Minato out and even more so as she noticed the names of Akitsu and Benitsubasa in there aswell. She almost asked out loud that was Matsu sure about her plan when the sentence about Minaka bugging her office caught her eye. Takami quickly started to write and talk at the same time, she was asking why Matsu was fidgeting and writing her real question on the paper. They discussed the details of their plan for about an hour and was just about to wrap things up as they were both feeling good about the plan now. Takami was just over excited at the fact that if Matsu were escaping with Minato, that would mean that he was outside of the reach of Minaka forever. Matsu was the technology controlling sekirei for gods sakes and Minaka was too dependent on his machines he had taken from the ship and implementing in his plan.

Suddenly a loud alarm was blaring through the tower with a notice that a level five environmental threat was detected at the sublevels and all staff was needed to evacuate. The two women looked each other in the eyes and came to the same conclusion. This was the best time to do the escape, as it was sure that the alarm had scrambled every guard and soldier to the place of the threat while the staff was hurrying their way out of the tower. Takami whispered to Matsu's ear that she was going to go talk to Benitsubasa and Matsu should go talk to Akitsu. Then they would find Minato and get the him the hell out of there along with Matsu and who ever wanted to leave. Takami couldn't care less if she got caught as she knew Minaka couldn't kill her and if this happened it would be pointless to do anything to Yukari as she was not going anywhere. Just like Minaka wanted.

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"Tsubasa! Tsubasa, god damn it Tsubasa!" Takami shouted as she ran through the training wing, trying to find a certain pink haired sekirei. Benitsubasa heard her shouting and threw Haihane through the wall on the other side of the training room and stepped to the door just as it slammed open with force. Takami was talking to her with a loud voice as soon as she entered. Benitsubasa was taken back by the sheer forward momentum of the woman talking and walking, not stopping for any kind of objections. Her eyes darted between Haihane, who was slowly climbing out of the hole in the wall and Takami, who was still telling her to go and fullfill her promise and help Minato.

"Takami-sensei. TAKAMI-SENSEI!" Benitsubasa said and grabbed the woman by the shoulders. Takami went silent at the sudden grab and was just about to start her rant again when Benitsubasa turned her around so she could see Haihane walking towards the two of them.

"Well, do you think you could use Haihane? Isn't she subservient to you?" Takami asked as she knew that the more sekirei she could get to help Minato the better. Benitsubasa thinked about it a minute before she noticed that she had basically agreed to Takami's plan of busting Minato out of the M.B.I Tower and go into hiding which in turn ment that she wouldn't be able to return to the tower.

"I guess. She is strong but I don't know how much of a help she could be. Haihane is afraid to use her full strength. And she was supposed to go to the attitude adjustment next week and if she misses it." Benitsubasa didn't finish the sentence as Takami knew what it would mean. They would be caught right in the middle of the escape they would be doing. So they needed to act quickly and get them out of the city before next week and Takami would try her hardest to change the date of the adjustment to the end of the week.

Meanwhile Matsu was making her way towards the room Akitsu was supposed to be occupying and was growing more and more concerned as the number of guards and soldiers was beginning to increase. That probably ment that something was happening in the floor where Akitsu was and Matsu hoped that nobody would take extra notice at her being there or even talking to the woman. Other sekirei tended to avoid Akitsu, almost like she would have the plague or something similar. Even she was nervous about meeting the discarded number although she knew that her condition would not affect her in the slightest.

When she got to the corridor that led to Akitsu's room, she saw multiple guards keeping the staff away from the scene but they paid no mind to her. Matsu squeezed pass the line of guards and instantly she knew something was wrong. The whole corridor was frozen and a squad of soldiers were trying to open a door which was under a thick layer of ice while two others were arming explosives. Matsu quickly made her way to the soldiers and persuaded them to let her try and talk to her sister, it probably was the best option to get the door open without creating anymore damage to the corridor or the people in it, not mentioning the sekirei inside the room.

"Akitsu, please open the door. It's me Matsu, I need to talk to you." She said gently through the crack the soldiers had been able to make between the door and the frame. Matsu tried to listen for any response but all she heard was silence and just as the soldiers were about to place the plastic explosives around the frame of the door, the ice melted away and the door opened slowly to reveal the face of Akitsu who was now wide eyed and they got no response out of her when they tried to ask what had happened. Matsu took a quick step inside and saw that Minato was inside an huge ice block with his hands wrapped around his head and expression of huge pain etched in his face.

"I-I just wanted to stop being a failure." Matsu heard Akitsu whisper silently after the squad of soldiers took Minato away from the room and left Matsu to deal with Akitsu. She hugged the other sekirei and felt the intense coldness emanating from her body and Matsu was almost certain that Akitsu's power was almost out of control. She murmured soothing words in the ice sekireis ear and after an hour of calming her down and bringing her power back under control, Matsu found out that Akitsu had pleaded Minato to wing her as he was her only friend and Minato had agreed after awhile. When they had kissed, Akitsu's powers had flash freezed the room while Minato had dropped on to his knees. He had screamed in pain and held his head. Akitsu didn't know what else to do than to freeze him and wait for someone to come and help him. Matsu knew that Akitsu was blaming herself on being a failure and the reason Minato was now in the condition he was but Matsu suspected the real reason being in the treatment the M.B.I had forced upon him.

Matsu sent a notice to Takami about what had happened and they pushed the escape date back until they knew in what condition Minato was in and when he would be able to be taken away from the tower. Akitsu had agreed instantly when Matsu told her the plan and after Takami told Benitsubasa the reason behind the alarm, she was also keen on getting out of the place. If Minaka treated his own son that badly, what hope did the sekirei have. They all went to sleep that night thinking about what and where they would be after they got out of the tower. Takami was the only one who would stay behind and everyone knew that whatever would happen to her, it would not be good. Even if Minaka needed her on the plan, it didn't mean he couldn't punish her and that had made Takami send a text message to Yukari, telling her to come to Tokyo and go to a place called Izumo Inn. It was agreed upon to be a halfway house on the escape and Matsu had informed that Miya lived there which would mean that Minaka would most likely avoid the place.

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And here we are again, and I still could have written more on this but decided on cutting the chapter here and write the rest on the next one. Sorry about the long update again but for some reason, real life is trying to mess with my writing, grrr.

Hopefully you like this chapter and as always, R&R if you got the time. ^^

Random Guy5: I know Musubi and Yume are like night and day but you can't have one without the other. I would probably make her have split personality if I used her and I'm not that keen on writing either of them to be a big part of this. Don't know about berserker rage but the basic idea you got is not wrong.

Dalchemist89: I am pondering about it, but I make no promises. ^^

Urban Mercenary: Sorry but not gonna make him go Deadpool. Great comics and an awesome character but not appropriate for this in my opinion. Hope you don't mind.

the DragonBard: As you might have noticed, I'm not following canon all that strictly. I feel that the relationship between Miya and Karasuba is what I wrote, but only on the surface. I have one surprise to add in the mix and I will not tell that just yet. :D

Emeraldfireblade: The dreams are mostly Minato's own fears and doubts attacking him, and the treatments just make it more intense for him. I killed Kenshin as he was only to be the squad leader and I thought it would be awkward to just call him that, that's why the name and a dash of personality.

DanTheJIGGERMAN: I am building something, don't know if it will be winging or something else but I will have them get a some sort of relationship.

-DraXXter-


	8. Chapter 8

I don't own sekirei or anything sekirei related

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Minaka was staring the outline of the city from his windows and kept thinking about the Sekirei plan and everything he had thought he would have completed so far. They were behind the schedule and Minaka was not happy about it. Every raport related to sekirei or Kamikura was filled with bad news. The sekirei in the cultivation tanks in the island were not growing properly and Minato was still in stasis. Akitsu had been winged, that they could acertain from the security footage but why Minato had collapsed was still a mystery. Everything was fine physically but the amount of fluctuation of his brain waves made it clear that something was happening. Even the symbol of sekirei that was in Akitsu's forehead had started to disappear and her powers were increasing. If she doesn't learn how to control that, she would be needed to be sedated and sent back to Kamikura to do more adjustment, all to lower the efficiency of her power.

Minaka was sure that the relationship Minato and Akitsu had had earlier had something to do with why Minato had winged Akitsu. It was still unclear which one initiated the winging and now that Akitsu had an Ashikabi, it would be impossible to get anything out of her that would regard Minato. The loyalty was superb and when Minaka had checked the records of treatment with both Minato and Akitsu, he had found out that Minato's blood was one of the ingredients in the mix that had been given to Akitsu as a test. That would surely mean that Akitsu was drawn to Minato, even without him instigating the winging. Minaka turned his head when he heard the door open and he saw the menacing figure of Karasuba enter the room.

"What do you want Karasuba? I have no time for your word games now!" Minaka said with irritation at the interruption of his thinking. He turned his head back toward the outline of Tokyo but was forced to give his full attention to Karasuba when he felt the her grab the collar of his cape.

"Where is Minato and what have you done to him?" Karasuba asked quietly, keeping her black eyes fixed on the back of the mans head while tightening her grip.

"He's not your's Karasuba, he's my puppet. Let's have that one clear." Minaka answered without a hint of fear in his voice. He knew Karasuba and was willing to bet that she wouldn't actually kill him or seriously harm him as he was always giving her enjoyment.

Karasuba released her grip and sat down on the desk, keeping her eyes still glued to the back of Minaka's head. Minaka started pacing around his office and told Karasuba what had happened, why they thought had happened and what was going to happen. Karasuba stood up, drawing her sword in the process at the part where Minaka told her that Minato had winged Akitsu. Minaka reminded her again, that Minato was his possession to do what he wanted and it had been in the plans to make Akitsu one of Minato's sekirei. It surprised Minaka to see how agitated Karasuba had become at the mention of Minato and he noticed that Karasuba was highly interested of Minato.

"I'm planning on sending him to Kamikura, along with Akitsu. Akitsu needs to be adjusted a bit more as her powers are definitely growing and only the ship in the island can bring Minato out of the coma he is in." Minaka said and turned to face Karasuba. He planted a smile in his face which was mirrored by Karasuba when Minaka suggested that Karasuba would also go to Kamikura. She would be of great help to the assassin sekirei Yahan and now that Tsukiumi, Homura and Uzume was leaving Kamikura to join them in the facility, it would be good that someone with power would be in Kamikura to fend off any idiots who would try to infiltrate or attack the island.

"Great idea monkey man. I like it, but there is just one matter I must attend to before I can leave." Karasuba said as her smile widened at the prospect of oncoming violence and bloodshed. She had heard of a certain female doctor in the M.B.I with grand illusions that Minato was her plaything and Karasuba itched to prove her wrong, in the most agonizing way possible.

"Fine, but don't take too long and don't kill anyone. We can't afford anymore setbacks." Minaka said and turned his attention back to the silhouette of the city and pondered that why was everything related to Minato always so fucking complicated.

"Oh, and by the way Karasuba. I have a job for you before you can leave for the island so when you're done with whatever you are planning to do, come back here for a briefing. And read this." Minaka said absent-mindedly as he threw a file on the desk. Karasuba picked up the file and went on her merry way to find one June Harmsworth, a source of her new found hatred of doctors.

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Yukari was standing at the bus-station of tokyo and wondered where this Maison Izumo was, where her mother had told her to go. She had gotten the message a few days ago and it had puzzled her to no end. She didn't know why would her mother suddenly told her to back her backs and come to Toyko on the next available bus and train combination and then head to a house called the Maison Izumo. Yukari had tried to locate the Maison Izumo from internet but all searches came for nothing, except a few blogs about the oldest house styles still in existence but no address, just a photo and that did not help. She had tried to call her mother Takami but couldn't get a hold of her as she was constantly told by a secretary or another appointed office jackass that her mother was either in a meeting or down at the labs and was unable to be contacted at the time. It had taken a days worth of trying to get a hold of her until Yukari had given up and showed the message to her grandmother. Her grandmother's reply had been short, back yer backs and head for Tokyo. She had also given Yukari money for the tickets and food on the way as well as escorted her to the bus-station in town. Trip from the rural parts of the country to the new found nerve hub of the nation had been a long one and the closer she got to the city, the slower she moved. Appartently M.B.I had bought just about everything in Tokyo and was offering jobs and new schools which made people to flock in to the city like a pack of migrating animals.

Yukari sighed happily and streched herself as she got out of the bus, finally in Tokyo but still no idea where the Maison Izumo was. She had spotted a kiosk in the station that should have maps and she thought that she could always try to find the house from the map, if it would be on the map at all that is. She looked through the map twice but the name Maison Izumo eluded her, it was not on the map. She couldn't find it and as she scrunched the map so she could stuff it to her shoulder bag, she decided to ask the staff in the bus-station. Before she went to find anyone that worked at the station, she decided to try to call her mother once more but as she opened the lid of her phone, the lack of reception in the area was shoved into her face as there were no icon in the corner of the phone that indicated network coverage.

"Great, just fucking great!" Yukari said to herself as she slammed the phone shut, being annoyed at it and looked around for the staff who should be working at the station. She started walking towards the big building in the back of the bus stop where the passengers were still unloading from the myriad of buses that was in the yard, when she spotted a police officer handling the traffic. Deciding to ask the officer as he was bound to know or to get to know where was Maison Izumo and how to get there. She walked to the sidewalk and started waving her hands and shouting.

"Excuse me! Excuse me Mr. Police Officer!" Yukari shouted and waved her hands in big waves, being slightly embbarrased at the way she was practically telling everyone that she was a tourist in the town. The officer turned his head to see who was shouting and after he had spotted Yukari, he gave her a nod to tell her that he had seen her and would be with her in a moment. After and half an hour the traffic started to lessen and there were a new officer coming on shift.

"Sorry young lady, the traffic lights suddenly died and I needed to wait for a fellow officer." The officer said cheerily and took Yukari's hand and enthusiastically pumped it.

"It's alright, I understand. Now, the reason why I called you is that, I wondered do you know where is a place called the Maison Izumo?" Yukari asked after getting her hand back from the enthusiastic officer and had sat down on top of her travel case. The officer thought for a couple of minutes but didn't remember ever hearing about it and before Yukari's face was completely depressed looking, he said that he'd ask the central command as they were bound to find out. After twenty minutes, one of the mobile police forces informed the address to the officer who in turn gave it to Yukari. Thanking the officer, Yukari pulled the map out of the bag and tried to search the street from the map. She found it on the third try of looking the map, as she had resorted to using a magnifier as some of the street names were really tiny on the map. Yukari took out a pen and marked the street on the map and after she found the station on it, she drew a line between the Maison Izumo and the bus-station. Seeing as it was not that far, she started walking towards the house and dragging her luggage behind her.

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Minato was floating in a vast sea of white when he opened his eyes. 'Where am I?' He thought as he struggled to see something else than white. When his eyes adjusted to the brightness, he noticed that the whole white he was seeing was pulsing steadily. It was like a heartbeat and for some reason it made him feel at ease. The anxiousness he felt when he opened his eyes was rapidly fading and the feeling of familiarity was setting over him like blanket. 'What's happening here? The last thing I remember was that horrible monitor room and then the voice...Right. The voice, it said that it could make it all go away but is this what it ment?' Minato thought to himself and felt something firm under his feet. Looking down, Minato saw a path being constructed below his feet and forming a way to somewhere. Where ever the path was forming to, was too far to be seen. As he had no other choice Minato began to walk the path forward, hoping to find something that would answer some if not all his questions.

Like what had happened to him and why. How did he get there and why his memory was like swiss cheese. He remembered bits and pieces after he had agreed to go along with Karasuba. He had done it to save Kazehana from coming to harm and to prevent Miya racing to M.B.I tower. Now he wished he hadn't done that, he should've just agreed to die then and there and let this whole thing be over. It was not like wanted to die or leave Yukari, Miya, Kazehana or Akitsu and Benitsubasa behind. It was just that this was starting to be too much for him and little by litte Minato began to feel anger. Anger toward his mother and the bastard behind this whole thing. Minaka Hiroto was the madman and a genius scientist behind M.B.I and all the shit that had happened to him. Takehito had told Minato the whole story about Minaka finding a ship and the sekirei inside it. The machines that was supposed to be used in bettering the lives of the lifeforms inside the ship was instead used to enslave them to the whims of a madman. Grinding his teeth Minato swore then and there that if he ever got out, he would make sure that Minaka would end his days screaming for forgiveness.

Minato had walked the path for a long time, it must have been for hours, when he saw a small hut or a cottage in the distance. He started running towards it as it was the first sign of someone or something he had seen in the sea of white that was now surrounding him. As he neared the structure, he began to see that it was a western style house with a yard and a fence. When he finally reached the ornate gate which was made out of cast iron, he saw that the gate was filled with the sekirei emblem. Wondering the meaning of the symbol, Minato opened the gate and stepped inside the yard which was filled with white lilies and inside them were patches of roses. Roses of all colors, black, blue, red, green and even purple. These were the ones he saw from where he was standing but he was quite certain that if the ventured to the back of the house, there would be many other colored roses too. Shaking his head to get his eyes off from the rose patches, Minato made his way towards the door of the house. He knocked and waited. After few minutes he knocked again as there had been no answer. Again there were no answer and Minato tried the door. It was open and carefully he checked inside to see if there were anybody. Seeing no one, he stepped inside the house.

As soon as he closed the door, images of a planet in flames and people suffering filled his head. He saw crying women and men giving small children to medical people who were taking them inside a large ship and then the ship took off. All in the center of this was a figure of a woman clad in white robes with pearls and flowers of all colors and by the way she was shaking, she was crying too. The figure suddenly turned and just before everything went black again, he was sure that the woman was Miya and she was saying something to him.

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"MORE SEDATIVES! HE'S STRUGGLING!" The scientist screamed as he was trying to hold down the limbs of the boy who was supposed to be comatose. Nurses and treatment staff raced through the labs to get sedatives and restraints and the ones in the room were doing all they could to keep the boy in the bed. After he had thawed, they had been sure that he was brain dead but the monitors showed increased brain activity and five minutes ago, he had started to trash about in the bed.

Minaka had been informed about this and he had given the order to not tell Takami and to stop the boy with any means necessary. He had tried to contact June but had no answer when he called her office.

"Blasted woman, what use is she if I can't call her in a time like this." Minaka grumbled as he walked out of the elevator. Reaching the lab where Minato was held, he saw the restraints and a doctor giving a shot to the boy. Deeming it safe enough to enter, Minaka opened the door and asked for a report. One of the scientists in the room told what had happened and gave the chart to Minaka. He gave the order to prep him for transport immediately and tried to call June Harmsworth again.

The sound of a phone ringing for the fifth time in the hour interrupted Karasuba from her enjoyment as she watched the woman on the floor mumble on a rag and cry and wriggle.

"Ara ara June-chan. Seems like somebody misses you." Karasuba said and poked the woman again on the thigh with the tip of her nodachi. Stepping on top of a finger, which had been cut from the hand, Karasuba squatted in front of the sobbing woman who kept looking at her pure terror on her eyes. At first June had been irritated at the sudden appearance of the sekirei and when she had tried to tell her off, she had suddenly slashed the finger June had pointed at her. Shocked from the pain of loosing a finger, June had tried to run from the obviously mad sekirei but Karasuba had pierced her left thigh with her sword and she had dropped on the floor screaming. Karasuba had then stuffed a handkerchief into her mouth and proceeded to break her fingers and stab her with the sword all the while telling her how wrong she was in thinking that Minato would be her plaything.

"Minato is mine, June-chan. And if you ever touch him again, I will kill you with the most amount of pain I can give you. I will slowly kill your body from you before I allow you to die completely. I will and I can make this happen, do you understand me you filthy ape whore?" Karasuba asked her with the gentle tone she always had. June was nodding and begging forgiveness and swearing she would never go near Minato again but all that was coming out of her mouth was incomprehensible mumbling.

"I SAID DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?" Karasuba said with a loud enough voice to be heard to the hallway, where Ryuusuke turned on his heels deciding not to go inside the office right now and telling himself for the tenth time that day that he would resign. June nodded and mumbled a satisfactory yes behind the rag in her mouth before passing out in front of the eyes of Karasuba who was reveling at the terror she had brought upon the woman who thought that she could tamper with Karasuba's possessions and get away with it. On her way out Karasuba answered the phone and said that June would be indisposed for a few hours as she had some things to consider before putting the phone back on the hook, not even listening who was on the other side. Minaka looked at his phone and smirked as he had recognized the voice of Karasuba. He made a mental note to give June a month off as a sick leave, it would seem that Karasuba had found out who had tinkered with the boy and was not happy about it. 'Now how can I make this work for me?' Minaka thought to himself as he had never known Karasuba to be this exited about anything, except killing of course.

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Miya was cooking at the kitchen for the two. She felt sad as she knew that this as the other times, it hadn't been for her and Minato that she cooked to. She had gotten used to not cooking for Takehito but Minato being missing from the Inn too had hurted her more than she cared to admit. Kazehana came to the kitchen and saw Miya hunkered over the frying pan and obviously still thinking about Minato. Kazehana had been shocked when she finally got all the information out of Miya and had shouted her in anger. She had accused Miya for lying and when Miya's eyes had flashed in barely restraint anger after she had slandered Takehito and Minato, had told her that she was walking on a thin line. Sometimes it was hard to remember that in many ways Miya was far more deadly than Karasuba and that had been a clear cut reminder. Kazehana had then left the inn and spent a week drinking and sleeping in what ever alley she fell in. It was when she woke to find a bunch of homeless people trying to undress her, when she finally stopped and went back to the inn and apologized at Miya and went for a bath.

The man that had saved her and her sisters from being slaves for other countries, saved them from being someones pet science projects had turned out to be just like the men he was supposed to save them from and that had hurted her dearly. Even more so when she recalled the afternoon that Minaka had told her bluntly no when she had asked him to be her Ashikabi. Kazehana had blamed Takami for stealing Minaka from her but now she knew that Minaka could not wing her as she was only a test subject to her. Something to play with and then toss aside. Minato was just like her in so many ways, he had been Minaka's test subject, a toy and a thing to play with. She let out tears every time she thought that Minato had gone with Karasuba just to save her and Miya from being hurt by the psychotic woman.

Kazehana sighed and walked to Miya. Silently she squeezed at the shoulder of the other woman, waking her from her thoughts. Miya looked at Kazehana and forced a smile to her lips. Kazehana had seen a lot of that smile, the smile told everyone who didn't know Miya that she was all right and nothing was wrong but anyone who knew her saw that it didn't reach her eyes.

"You don't need to fake it to me Miya. It's okay to be hurt and if I can admit that, so can you." She said to Miya and walked to the living room to wait for the dinner they would eat in silence. They both tended to drift to their own worlds and that made the inn seem more quiet and desolate than it was.

"I'm not faking anything." Miya whispered to herself, trying to convince her heart that nothing was wrong. The hollow beat of her heart told otherwise. Miya finished frying the fish and brought out the food for the two of them. Just as they were starting to eat, there was a knock at the door. The two woman looked at each other and then went to the door. As they were nearing it they heard a woman's voice speaking from the other side of the door. Miya opened the door and blinked as she saw a young woman in a denim jacket and a black tank top with red tribal markings in the sides and a matching skirt standing in the doorway shuffling her feet.

"Uhh.. Hello, my name is Yukari Sahashi and my mother said to come to this address." Yukari said and was taken aback with the silence of the two women who kept staring at her. The intense stare was making her fidget and her fingers couldn't stop fiddling with the hem of her skirt.

"Yukari Sahashi?" Miya asked with a silent voice, not believing her ears. Could this really be the little sister Minato had told her so much.

"Y-yes. My mom, Takami Sahashi sent me a message and told to come here. Why was I sent here? Why did my mother give me this address without telling me anything else?" Yukari asked quickly before her courage would fail under the stare of the woman in the purple china dress. She was looking at her like she had killed the love of her life and she knew it. Both women took a step back and thought at the questions.

"Your mother would be?" Miya asked with a calm voice while her head was working overtime. 'Why did Takami send this girl here? Is this girl THE Yukari? Can I trust Takami or this girl?' She asked herself while trying to create a mental image of the girl.

"Takami Sahashi. M-my mom said that I should come here. That there was something I needed to know and here I would get know what. Please tell me what this is about." Yukari said with ever decreasing volume as she was feeling more lost by the minute.

Kazehana saw Yukari deflate like a balloon and was taken from her hate filled thoughts. She was angry and who ever she was angry to, this girl had nothing to do with it and she felt a little ashamed about thinking how because of this girl Minaka had rejected her. She whispered in Miya's ear and went to the kitchen.

"First things first dear girl. Come in and join us for dinner, we were just about to start. We can talk after we have eaten" Miya said and without hearing Yukari's answer, she took her hand and pulled her inside the inn. Yukari was a bit startled at the forward manner she was handled. Miya closed the door behind them and told her to take her boots off and come to the living room which was the first door to the right, right after the stairs. Yukari took her boots off, still a bit bewildered and obeyed without thinking. She followed the purple haired woman to the door where she had gone and peeking inside she saw her kneeling in front of a meal and the woman in the purple china dress was setting another plate to the table. With her stomach grumbling, Yukari took the place she was offered and as they started to eat. Yukari sat in silence and watched the two woman who were most definitely sizing her up, judging from the way they were looking at her.

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"Yukari-san. Bath is ready now if you would like to go." Miya shouted to Yukari from the kitchen where she was washing dishes.

"Thank you Miya." Yukari answered and went to get her bathroom kit from her room. Miya had given her a room from the second floor, right next to the stairs as she had explained that her mother had sent a message to her where she said that Yukari should stay in the Inn. Miya and Kazehana had looked at each other when Yukari had said that and Yukari had wondered about that, even more so when they had finished eating.

"So Miya, what do you think of the "little sister"? Personally I don't trust her." Kazehana said and took a sip from the sake she had on the kitchen table. Kazehana had started a habit of being around Miya, just to make sure that she didn't take off to rip M.B.I tower to pieces. Not that she could stop Miya if it came to that but she had to try to be some kind of voice of reason. Miya was on edge all the time now. She knew that Minato had left with Karasuba to protect Maison Izumo and loosing two of the most important people in ones life was more than enough to make anyone be on edge but then Yukari had showed up on their door with an odd message from Takami. Takami and Miya was not on good terms with the best of days, and the animosity Miya felt toward the woman had increased when she had learnt that Takami had deliberately brought Minato to Tokyo and in the clutches of a madman.

"I think she is who she says she is. She resembles the description I heard from Minato multiple times and she obviously cares about Minato" Miya said with a wavering voice while drying the dishes. Miya had warmed up to Yukari almost immediately as she felt like she knew Yukari already. Minato had talked about the young woman with warmth and longing and it had been clear that Minato cared very much about his little sister and after the talk they had had when they had eaten, convinced Miya that the feeling was mutual. Miya was a little jealous of Yukari and the bond she shared with Minato. Miya had knew that she cared about Minato but the intensity of her feelings scared her and made her feel like she was betraying both Minato and Takehito.

"Yes, but why did the big bad bitch send her here?" Kazehana said, her dislike towards Takami was clear in her voice. Kazehana still blamed Takami for stealing Minaka from her and the fact that she had learned what kind of man Minaka was, did not stop her feeling angry towards the gray haired researcher. Just like Miya, Kazehana was at a loss about her feelings and she knew that she needed to sort this out before they tried to do anything regarding Minato. If they went there with their heads in clouds, it wouldn't end well. If MIya and Karasuba saw each other, nothing would end well but that was a problem for a later date. Miya and Kazehana talked about nothing and everything and after Yukari had come out of the bath, they decided to have a new talk about what to do now and Kazehana decided to make contact at the tower. Talking to someone who still was there would be a good way to get information on both Minato and what was the situation now.

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The scientists were hustling through the lower levels of the tower when Takami was walking towards the rooms where the Sekirei who lived in the tower when she spotted Akitsu and the fading tattoo on her forehead. Takami walked quickly toward Akitsu and without stopping, told her to go get Matsu and join her and Benitsubasa in her room for a talk. Akitsu nodded slightly and turned on the next intersection. Takami stopped one of the scientist to ask what was going on and her face grew a little paler when the scientist notified that Minaka had ordered the project Phoenix to be transported to Kamikura.

"When was this order issued?" Takami asked the scientist while grabbing his arms and the man was clearly scared of her as he had heard that Takami was one of three woman who he shouldn't trifle with.

"A-about five minutes ago Ma'am. I-I'm sorry but we are in a hurry." The man said and quickly shook off Takami's hands and left the woman standing in the middle of the hallway.

Minato was in a stasis pod where his injuries could be monitored at all times. Minato had been pulsing with cold air after the ice had melted and when they had hooked him up on the machines, they had found out that the sekirei genes inside him had somehow responded with the discarded number and their powers were somehow connected. Only when they could get Minato out of the pod and stop giving him drugs to keep him unconscious they could see what did the winging process do to Minato. It was a mystery as why this hadn't shown on when Minato was still strapped to the table and started convulsing. The cold air he started pulsing with had started after they had sedated him and had continued until he was put in the stasis pod.

They had tried to do tests on the discarded number but the order from Minaka had stopped those as Akitsu was no longer a discarded number and her powers were growing, who knew what she would do if someone prodded her now. No, she needed to be sent back to the island with Minato and do the check up and test there. She had been given the number seven back and was now recorder in the archives as being the sekirei of Minato Sahashi. Minaka had been happy about the fact that Akitsu was winged and was now relatively sure that the new Disciplinary Squad would consist of Akitsu, Karasuba and one more sekirei. Benitsubasa was a good choice so far and she had been receiving treatments and training to make her involvement with the Squad a reality.

When Akitsu came with Matsu to the hallway, she saw that Takami was still standing there. When they got closer, they saw that Takami eyes were empty. That would indicate that she was either thinking something or something really bad had happened and Matsu decided to take Takami to Benitsubasa. They could calm her down over there and probably find out what had happened to make Takami like this. Matsu was reminded about the time she had found Takami kneeling and sobbing on the floor, not even noticing the hot coffee that had splashed on her pants.

"Come Akitsu, take Takami-tan's right hand and support her, we need to get to Benitsubasa." Matsu said and draped Takami's left hand over her shoulder and when Akitsu was ready, they started to drag and walk Takami towards Benitsubasa's room. They almost got to the door to the room of Benitsubasa when a scientist came along and informed that Akitsu was to be transported to Kamikura, along with Minato. Akitsu was happy and terrified at the same time, happy to see Minato again and terrified of what would happen to them when they reached the island as it was never been a happy place for the ice sekirei. Her life of being a test subject and the receiver of untold pain had started there, almost immediately when she had awoken.

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They were inside the room of Benitsubasa, who was not happy about them just barging in but when she saw the state of Takami-sensei, she decided to shut up and try to help the woman. Matsu had placed Takami on the bed and asked that Benitsubasa would get Haihane at the room as there was something that they needed to talk about. After Haihane had entered the room, Matsu had taken a small handheld computer from Takami's jacket and erected a barrier around the room where nothing electrical worked. As there were no way of listening of their conversations now, they tried to wake Takami up. She was laying in the bed, staring at the ceiling and the feeling of hopelessness she was giving out was almost palpable.

"So, what do we do now?" Benitsubasa asked after Matsu had told her everything she knew and went to get water to the woman lying in the bed.

"I wish I knew Benitsubasa, I wish I knew." Matsu answered when she came back with the glass. I was only when the buzzing sound of the PDA which indicated a call coming, when Takami sat up from the bed and focused her eyes on the sekirei in the room.

"Give it to me." Takami said calmly and extended her arm towards the sekirei. Matsu knew what she was talking about and gave the PDA back to Takami. Without looking, she answered the call, shouted not now and ended the call. Both Matsu and Benitsubasa looked at Takami with concern in their eyes while Haihane was studying the room of Benitsubasa as this was her first trip to her superiors room.

"What happened Takami-tan?" Matsu asked quietly and sat down on the floor, crossing her legs in the way yogis would sit.

"That bastard of a psychopath ruined everything, that' what happened. Where's Akitsu, we need her on this." Takami said and took the water glass from Matsu's hand and downed it with one gulp. She grimaced as she tasted water when she had hoped for spirits.

"She was taken to Kamikura. Along with Minato and Karasuba." Matsu answered solemnly. Takami's eyes widened at the news and started cursing. Benitsubasa covered Haihane's ears as she had started to think the taller woman was her child, in a way, when she had started imposing herself as Haihane's mistress.

"Who is in charge of Kamikura now?" Takami asked, as she was out of the loop on the island. She had concentrated on the sekirei in the tower and their adjustments, anything she knew regarding the island came from reports she knew she couldn't trust. Benitsubasa told that it was Yahan, who was an assassin sekirei which would prompt that she would get along just fine with Karasuba, in the extent that anyone could get along with Karasuba. They tried to think of how to get to know what was going on in the island when Matsu asked Takami to give her PDA back. She was a bit reserved to give an computer to the hands of the sekirei but when Matsu informed that she could get access to the network and find out everything about the island and what was going on there, she gave the PDA to the technology happy sekirei and sent Haihane with a note to the nearest guard. The note simply said to get a bottle of brandy and give it to the sekirei. if there were a problem, Takami would come personally to show the guard what he could do with the problem.

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"That bitch!" Kazehana raged and threw the phone back on it's hook and went to the kitchen to get more sake. When she entered the kitchen, she saw Miya still drying the same plate she had dried for ten minutes.

"I think the plate is dry now Miya." Kazehana said and took the plate from her hands. Miya flinched and gave a half hearted smile to Kazehana before she continued on the washing of the dishes. It was clear as day that the appearance of the young woman had made Miya think Minato even more.

"Miya. Why do you keep denying that you're hurting?" Kazehana asked her sister and took a big swig from the bottle she had dug up from behind the secret stash behind the fridge.

"I'm not hurt. Just disappointed." Miya answered crudely and gave up on washing the dishes. "I thought it was Minato." She said with almost a whisper as she stared outside of the window to the corner of the yard where she had first heard the thump of Minato hitting the fence.

"I know, but are you going to tell the girl that Minato lives?" Kazehana asked and leaned on the counter.

"I don't think we should, at least not yet. She would be devastated when she learns where Minato is now." Miya said and gave a sharp glance to Kazehana as a reminder that Yukari was in no way responsible about the dealings of her father or mother.

"I know Miya, but it still eats me up inside. Even more so when I know what that.. that inexcusable asswipe of a human did to Minato." Kazehana nearly shouted as she was getting agitated about when she again thought what Minato had been putten through and who was the reason behind it.

"Kazehana. I know that if you think calmly, you'll find out that Takami had little or no choice in the matte." Miya said as she knew who easy it was to threaten someone with a slaughter spree from Karasuba.

"I don't want to think calmly." was her only reply before she went to her new favourite place of the inn, the roof. It was here where she had seen Minato laying down and gazing stars on so many nights that she had taken a habit of lying in the same place, drinking sake and thinking about her life.

Yukari came out of the bath and went downstairs to let Miya and the other woman know that the bath was open. She came down the stairs and entered the room where they had eaten and noticed a stand on the table with two short swords on it. Yukari felt drawn to the two swords and she noticed two letters on the handles, they were silver in color and magnificently embellished.

"M.S." She said to her self and picked up the one on the top, marveling it's beauty and amazed at the weight. It was then when Miya came to the room and saw Yukari holding the wakizashi.

"Dont touch them!" She shouted as rage sparked inside her immediately. Yukari was startled and dropped the sword on the table. She started to say she was sorry but the look of anger and sorrow from the woman killed the words to her lips. Kazehana heard the shout and jumped down and saw the situation from the backyard. She went to Miya and gave her a quizzical look as she was supposed to be the tolerant one, to Yukari at least.

"Sorry Yukari. It's just that these are very important to me and I don't want anybody to touch them." Miya said as she had calmed down. She placed the short sword back on the stand gently and turned to see Yukari.

"It's okay, I was just amazed at how beautiful they were. I didn't mean to insult you." Yukari said, her voice still shaking from the scare she had been given. Miya smiled gently and told her that the two swords were her only memento from the second man in her life she has ever cared about and now that she had lost him, she was very protective of them. Yukari totally understood. She had kept all the little notes and wood figures she had ever gotten from Minato and if someone would just carelessly fiddle with them, she would be furious.

It was then when Yukari tried asking why her mother had sent her here and who the two woman were. Kazehana and Miya looked at each other and told Yukari they would tell her everything as soon as they had talked to Takami first.

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Akitsu stared at the black sekirei who had entered the ship and pushed her away from Minato. She had flashed her Nodachi at the ice sekirei and then the pilot had said that if they moved that much, they might aswell plummet to the sea themselves. The meaning was clear, any kind of fighting would result as a crash landing to the sea and that would mean Minato would die and Akitsu was not going to hurt her Ashikabi even more. Karasuba had stared at Akitsu for the whole trip, pure hatred in her eyes and she had kept her hand obsessively on top of the pod where Minato was in. Akitsu was keeping the stoic mask on her face that she had grown accustomed to keep but was feeling ecstatic as she now was in the same room as Minato and for some reason, she thought it was the result of the winging, she could literally feel Minato. When Akitsu closed her eyes, she could see Minato lying down in a field of flowers and she felt that even if his body was undergoing some changes, she didn't know what and didn't care, he was fine.

Minato was asleep but fine and Karasuba intended to keep it that way. She would allow nothing to impede the recovery of her favourite pet, not even the discarded number who was supposedly Minato's sekirei now. She felt her anger rise again as she thought how that disgusting vermin had sullied her toy. How Minato had been touching that pile of garbage when he was supposed to be hers. Karasuba was still a little wary of her own thoughts about Minato as the intensity had surprised even her. It was unnatural to be this interested of a lowly human and she credited it to the fact that Minato was the son of that infuriating ape who was, for now, the leader of the sekirei. If there hadn't been a conditioning program in the start, which made any sekirei to think other thoughts than harming Minaka, Karasuba would've killed him by now. It was only when she feeling strong emotions that she could disregard the conditioning but Minaka knew that and played with it very skillfully. A moment's lapse and the window for killing him was closed. The two sekirei stared at each other for the better part of an hour before the pilot said that they were starting to land at the island. It was entirely for the network that Minaka had thought up with that made a twenty-minute swimming trip and hour and a half's flight. It had been decided that the plane that was on official business would go through checkpoints that were pre-determined to show that it was on official business. Anyone going straight to the island would be shot down, without excuses.

After the landing Karasuba went to see Yahan, the only sekirei that she could get along with, even if a little. As Yahan was an assassin and Karasuba just liked to kill, it was quite common that they sometimes saw each other on the field and Yahan was smart enough to not tell Karasuba that she didn't like the homicidal bitch at all. Karasuba filled Yahan in on the orders of Minaka and as Yahan started to fill Karasuba in on the situation around the island, she couldn't but help to see the stasis pod being delivered. 'Uuh, cute." Yahan thought as she followed the pod with her eyes.

"Don't even think about it Yahan. He's mine." Karasuba said and grabbed the woman by the throat. Yahan was surprised that Karasuba was this intense about a human but when she saw the ice sekirei walking beside the pod and holding her hand on top of it, she thought it would be best to be quiet about that.

"Sure Karasuba. He's your's, got it." Yahan said and bowed to Karasuba when she had released her. Leaving to check her troops, Karasuba handed the file to Yahan and went to see where Minato was being stored. Yahan flipped through the file and grimaced. 'What did this poor woman do to Minaka.' Yahan thought as she left to the helipad where her personal helicopter were waiting. You could leave the island fast but not enter it and Yahan decided to find out what had Yukino Sahashi, Age 75 do to the most powerful man on earth, on her way back to the island. She was disgusted that her skills were used in the indiscriminate slaughter of innocent people who, apparently, had nothing to do with anything.

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And so, here is a new chapter. Finally I would say. All I have to say is that I'm sorry about my absence and I do hope that my next update wont take this long. My life became a mess and then my computer broke down and that is all I have to say about that. Sorry if this text is a bit clunky or seems a bit off but I started typing this with my computer which had started the habit of crashing every 15mins or so. Not to mention, I might be just a bit rusty :D I am trying my best that the next update wont take so long but as I now only have nights to write, it still could take some time.

I have few ideas on how to progress about this story and was thinking that would you guys, if yer still reading this, like to make a vote of some sort on who to wing next? One option is ofc that Minato wings no-one no more and as a teaser, I'm thinking about putting a little bit of Yukari on the frontlines sort of speaking. And as always, please read and comment and rate and tell me what I did right and what was wrong.


	9. Chapter 9

I don't own sekirei or anything sekirei related

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Akitsu was walking around in the island, as she was permitted to walk the premises now that there were no way of her leaving the island. She could freeze a path to herself but that would mean leaving Minato behind and Akitsu couldn't bear that. Minato was the only thing she had ever cared about and she was not going to leave him behind. She didn't know how she was going to get Minato away from the island as she remembered her promise to Matsu and Takami about taking her beloved Ashikabi away from the clutches of Minaka. It wasn't so hard to figure out that M.B.I was not the best place for Minato but after a month in the island, she was at a loss. Akitsu had no plans whatsoever and all she could do was hope that Takami and Matsu would think of something. She felt solace of the fact that Minato was not in danger and was absolutely fine, except the fact that he was in a coma and somehow was intune of her powers. It didn't bother Akitsu, as cold was the only constant feeling she could remember and if Minato was attuned to her that would mean that they were that much closer to each other.

Karasuba smiled at the ice sekirei walking around her own path she had created on the island and almost laughing when she saw that the other sekirei didn't go near her or the path she was walking. You could trace the thing if you knew how to look at the people down on the ground. There were a distinct pathway, about five feet wide that nobody walked on or crossed with. Some wise guy had erected a small bridge like construction on the places around the path that would be unavoidable. Turning her head to see the assassin enter the room with the underside of her fluttery outfit twirling in the breeze that was coming through the window.

"Got everything done Yahan?" Karasuba asked and glanced at the woman clad in white walking her never-ending circle on the yard, just like a prisoner would.

"Yeah, still don't know why he wanted that woman dead but who am I to disagree. Must've seen something she shouldn't or known someone she should've left alone." Yahan said and shrugged her shoulders. Being in the same room as that mad dog was giving her the chills but she wanted to know who that cute boy was that came to the island and the best way to find out was being with Karasuba and let her ramble on her own. Unlike many who didn't know, Yahan had a very good hearing and that had helped her many times in dealing with Karasuba. She had a habit of talking to herself while thinking and Yahan used that to her advantage. She knew when to stay away from the blood soaked woman and when was the right time to push a little further. Yahan was a survivor and nothing would ever change that. not even make to work with Karasuba.

"Why is never a concern for you, you just need to do what you're instructed." Karasuba said plainly and left the control tower. She was eager to go tease the team trying to bring Minato back from the coma he was in, and she gave them an incentive. Every week he was still in coma, the lead scientist would lose a finger or a toe. After ten weeks they would lose their life and a new leader was selected. It infuriated that Minato had the smell of Miya on him and Karasuba would be damned if she left her toy untouched. Even if the intensity of her thoughts about Minato were new. She could almost hear Yume talking about the one true love for all sekirei and that made her smirk. She would show Yume just how "loving" she could be.

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Kazehana was laying on her stomach on the roof of the inn and watched Yukari tend the garden. She had been drawn to the sorrow she felt from the young woman and that was puzzling. She had thought that she would hate her but after a few days with her, Kazehana had came to see that Yukari was a good girl. She was nice and tried to help as much as she could and didn' seem to have a bad bone in her body. She had thought that Yukari was a manipulative woman, just like her mother but Yukari seemed more like Minato. And that similarity was frightening, it was almost like Minato was back and that tempted Kazehana. She had already surprised the younger girl twice, acting like she would have with Minato and that had started the thought in Kazehana's head that maybe Minato and Minaka wouldn't be the only ones she would liked to be around with. In more lasting ways than just staying friends. With a sigh, Kazehana turned on her back and stared at the blue sky while drinking her sake. 'What am I going to do Minato?' She thought to herself, going back to her habit of talking to Minato when she was unsure of herself. She had started that habit when she couldn't talk to Miya and needed someone to voice her thoughts.

Miya squeezed the wakizashi in her hand as she watched Yukari weeding the garden. 'How much she is like you Minato, how much it hurts to see her when you can't.' She thought and hugged the short sword, hoping that she could hug Minato instead. Miya had come to terms that while Takehito was her first love, Minato was in no way less important and she knew that Takehito would have liked that Miya wasn't stuck on being sad and depressed now that Takehito was gone. She was still unsure as to tell Yukari that her brother was alive and she had decided that if she couldn't call Takami, she would go to see her. Miya was the one person Takami would come to see if she told the staff at the tower that she needed to talk to Takami. The only reason why she hadn't done that was the fact that she wanted to talk to Takami without Minaka knowing about it. Miya placed the wakizashi back to the stand and went to cook, as she always did when she needed something to do.

Yukari was kneeling in front of the flower bed and felt awkward as she felt the two woman staring at her. Kazehana had been frightening at first but it had gotten better after a few days, not counting the times when she had come far too close to her personal space, it had always stopped when Kazehana seemed to wake up from a stupor and realising where she was. That was something that Yukari was not comfortable with but it wasn't that unpleasant either and that had come as a surprise to her. She had found herself surprised at the sudden closeness of the other woman but rather than feeling disturbed about it, she was just uncomfortable but left wondering about the reasons of the feelings sadness the older woman gave when she was in the same room. It was obvious to her that Miya was feeling sad every time she looked at her and even if that was strange, Yukari shrugged it off as her resembling someone she had lost. Yukari apologized almost every time they were in the same room when she noticed Miya looking at her with that unexplained sorrow showing from her eyes and even when Miya said that there were no need, she still kept apologizing as it felt to Yukari that it was her fault that Miya was sad. When Yukari had walked around the inn and checked the rooms, she had found out that there were nobody else but the three of them in the inn. There was a room which was furnished but nobody was ever there. When she asked, she was told that a man named Kagari was there but his work kept him away from the inn for long periods of time. It was only the one room at the second room where she wasn't allowed to go, Miya and Kazehana had both shouted her to never go into that room when she almost opened the door but had explained that the room was reserved and that was the reason she couldn't get into the room. They had also apologized at the shouting but as they both had been too far to inform her otherwise, they had shouted and startled the young woman. Yukari almost believed that but only almost. It was clear that the room was some sort of a shrine to the two women and as how both of them had bouts of sadness emanating from them, Yukari didn't want to open old wounds and ask about the room.

Yukari lifted herself from the ground, the weeding done. She wiped her brow and decided to take a quick bath before going to the shop, which had been delegated to her as the newest tenant and Yukari had to agree to the reason that it would be the fastest way to get used to the city and the neighborhood. She was in the dressing room part of the bath, taking her sweat drenched clothes off when she felt someone behind her and when she turned her head, she saw Kazehana there with the faraway look on her face again. At first Yukari was going to shout but somehow being like this with the woman was not as awkward as she thought it would be.

"Kazehana-san. Is everything alright?." Yukari asked with concern in her voice, her face red from the embarrassment at being seen almost naked. Kazehana was brought out of her stupor as she realized that she was staring the younger woman. She apologized to Yukari and left the room quickly. 'Why did I do that? I was walking along the corridor and suddenly I was sure that Minato was in the bath.' Kazehana thought to herself as she made way to the kitchen to get some sake and sort herself out. Miya was cleaning up the kitchen from the preparations for lunch, the missing ingredients not included, and when Kazehana came in she almost told her off from coming to get more sake but the bewildered look on the other woman's face made her ask what was wrong instead.

"I don't know Miya, and that's part of the problem." Kazehana said with a sigh as she sat down on the kitchen and poured two cups of saké, informing Miya that she wanted her to sit down with her for a while. Miya took the cup and brought it to her lips when Kazehana told what had happened and Miya almost dropped the cup.

"You did what?" Miya said with disbelief evident in her voice.

"I went to the bath when Yukari was there and I was sure she was Minato." Kazehana said with the same deadpan tone as last time and drank her cup empty with one gulp. Miya took a sip from her sake and placed the cup on the table.

"Are you reacting to her?" Miya asked and looked Miya in the eyes, trying to see what was going on in her sister's head. Miya had always thought the others to be her sisters and brothers but being so close and in contact everyday had solidified that feeling with Kazehana, even if she was indecent at times. Though after Minato had left, that part of Kazehana had dwindled to almost nothing.

"No, I don't think so. I think it's just she is so much like him that I get... I don't know, confused." Kazehana said as she was trying to figure it out herself. Miya watched her drink cup after cup of sake and talk about everything and nothing. She drank her own cup in silence and thinking about talking to Takami again.

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Benitsubasa was annoyed. No, annoyed would be an understatement at this point. She was furious.

"goddamnit Haihane! I don't know why I bother with you when you don't even try!" She shouted to the gray-haired sekirei who was climbing out of the hole in the wall. She looked at Benitsubasa with an apologetic look on her face and brushed the dust off from her clothes.

"But Benitsubasa-sama, I don't want to attack you. I like you." She said like a little girl, smiling at the older albeit smaller sekirei. In the weeks they had been together, training and meeting with Takami-sensei, she had come to adore the pink haired sekirei she considered her big sister and mentor. Benitsubasa sighed and walked to the taller sekirei and slapped her face. Haihane put her hand on her cheek and forgot that she had her blade gloves on and cut her temple again. Benitsubasa face palmed and walked to the side of the room where they had water and towels.

"I know you don't Haihane, but this is practice. If you don't do anything here, then this is pointless." Benitsubasa said after she had gulped down half of a water bottle with one sip. 'I swear to the maker that this girl is retarded.' She thought to herself as she was quite attached to the other sekirei even if she did run her ragged at times. Haihane came to take water too and kept thinking about what Benitsubasa had said.

"So when we are practicing, I can use my skills and attack you?" Haihane asked to confirm something only she knew. Benitsubasa nodded angrily as she couldn't understand why that concept was so hard on the brain of that woman. Sekirei were supposed to be faster, stronger and SMARTER than humans but Haihane was doing her damnest to prove everyone wrong.

"Okay." Haihane said and started to stretch herself. Benitsubasa coughed the water out of her windpipe at the woman. 'NOW? She understood that just now?!' Benitsubasa asked herself as she coughed the water out of her lungs.

"Haihane. Am I to understand that you just now know why we are here doing what we are doing? After THREE YEARS!?" Benitsubasa's anger was flaring at this point. She had been diligently sparring with the other woman for so long but she had never once known what they were doing.

"I just thought we were having fun." Haihane said confirming Benitsubasa's fears and smiled. With a distinct gah shout Benitsubasa slammed her fist on the side of the other sekirei and sent her flying through yet another wall. Haihane came out of the hole with a mad glint in her eye and she started to giggle. With a manical grin, she attacked Benitsubasa and she was faster than ever before. Benitsubasa jumped, dodged and guarded the wild slash attacks and was quickly starting to appreciate the battle sense of the other woman. She was born for a chaotic melee fight. Haihane jumped, kicked and slashed in what seemed like an totally uncontrolled way but Benitsubasa saw that her moves weren't wasted. She used the momentum of her missed attacks to propel her around Benitsubasa and attacked her again and again. Benitsubasa started to grin as the practice battle was now what she had thought it should be between two sekirei. They both lost themselves in the battle and after nearly three hours of sparring, they left the room in ruins and fell into the floor.

"Now that was what I was talking about Haihane!" Benitsubasa said feeling ecstatic. Haihane looked at the torn outfit the other sekirei was wearing and the bloody scratch marks on her and her face went to a frown.

"I don't like this Benitsubasa-sama. I don't like to see you bleeding and your clothes all torn." Haihane said feeling sad about the things she had done. She had liked it, she had liked it a lot and that somewhat scared her. Haihane had never felt that kind of feeling and it was so odd to her that she didn't want to feel it again.

"I'm alright Haihane, this is practice. We do this here so that when we have to do this on the outside, we don't get hurt." Benitsubasa said to Haihane and hugged her. Benitsubasa knew that Haihane liked when she hugged her or showed her attention, which had lead to the fact that Benitsubasa used it to bind Haihane to her will even more. They were looking at each other and catching their breaths when they heard a clapping sound. Turning their heads, they saw Takami walking towards them.

"Takami-sensei!" Benitsubasa said and lifted herself to a sitting position. Benitsubasa had liked Takami from the first day they had met and the time she had been adjusting Benitsubasa had solidified the bond to the point where Benitsubasa didn't feel bad about doing things for only Takami and not for the M.B.I. It had been Takami's idea to bind Haihane to her and as she had first disliked the idea, Benitsubasa now knew that it was actually a good idea. Haihane would help her in helping Takami and Minato.

"Girls, I didn't come here for a courtesy meeting. I came to get Benitsubasa to a check up that we need to do now." Takami said with a stern voice knowing that if she didn't use it, Haihane would beg to come along with the two of them and Takami knew that Haihane didn't like the adjustment rooms. Benitsubasa nodded and told Haihane to wait in their room and when she came back, she would play something with her. Haihane agreed with a sad undertone as she really didn't like being separated from her big sister. Haihane hated being alone and she was smart enough to know that not many people liked her as she was slow, shy and prone to break things. Most of the staffed considered her a nuisance and even if Benitsubasa always berated her, she always spent time with her. Not sparring or trying to teach her some kind of tactics or anything like that, she genuinely spent time with her. They talked and played and sometimes they even walked around the tower and that had been why Haihane had done her best to please Benitsubasa in every way she could and would continue to do that.

When Takami and Benitsubasa were alone in the adjustment room and Takami had plugged various devices into her, she started to tell Benitsubasa that Matsu was going to escape in a few days and if they, meaning Benitsubasa and Haihane, would come across her, they should leave her alone or let themselves get knocked out by the Information sekirei. Benitsubasa almost voiced her objection in a very loud voice but the flare from Takami's eyes stopped her. She agreed to let her go as her pride didn't let her forfeit a fight.

Minaka was smiling at the screen where he was looking at Takami doing a "checkup" on sekirei number 105.

"I know what you're doing Takami. And it won't work." Minaka said with a smile and looked at the coroner's report on one Yukino Sahashi. He had seen the woman twice but even if she was Takami's mother, her death had meant nothing to him. It was just a means to show Takami that even if she had succeeded in formulating a plan of saving Minato and keeping Yukari out of his grasp, the rest of her family was still in his fingertips and her plan was not so secret anymore. He had congratulated himself on bugging the rooms of the sekirei Takami was dealing with and when he had found out that in regular intervals one room was deactivated, he had sent his special forces to listen through other means.

"Should I tell you this now, or later Takami-kun?" Minaka asked the screen where the two woman was obviously talking about something that agitated the sekirei. Minaka kept pondering about telling Takami about her mothers sudden demise as he had made sure that the local police didn't know who she was. Yahan was a good assassin and even better at infiltration and espionage. It was almost a shame that she couldn't be a part of the Disciplinary Squad but even her had to go find an ashikabi one of this days. It should be a little less than three year till the plan started and it frustrated Minaka that almost everything else was going fine except the buying of the capital and adjusting the sekirei. They had gone so well but when they had lost Takehito, the rate of adjusting slowed down to minimal. He had been a genius at adjusting the sekirei race. It was like he had literally seen the strands of DNA and RNA that they had been adjusting and known what to do get it run smoothly. The pack if idiots who did it now, faced problems after problems. It was infuriating but there were nothing he could do. Well almost nothing. Minaka smiled to himself again and let out a memo to sell one more secret to the general public and use the money for bribing and intimidating landowners to give him what he wanted.

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Minato opened his eyes and saw that he was in a white room with blue stripes running in the wall. Turning his head, he saw woman with purple hair standing infront of a table and mixing something.

"Miya-neesan?" Minato said with a quiet voice and he reached his hand toward the woman when a sudden pain surged through his body and forced a yelp of pain from Minato.

"MIYA-NEESAN, HELP ME!" Minato yelled and started to convulse and shake on the bed. The woman quickly came to the bed and took Minato's hand with a gentle look on her face.

"I'm afraid I'm not Miya Minato, but you can trust me." She said and forced a foul smelling liquid down Minato's throat which immediately relaxed his body and caused him to lose his consciousness.

"HE'S DOING IT AGAIN, SEDATIVES AND RESTRAINTS!" One of the scientists shouted again to the nurses in the equipment room. The nurses scrambled into action and brought the restraints while another team of nurses prepared the syringes and drugs for the sedation of the patient. After they had secured the patient in the bed and a couple of the nurses were keeping his hand completely still, just in case, the doctor gave the sedative which relaxed the body and made Minato limp in the bed.

"That was the fifth time today. I would love to know what's causing it." The doctor said to no-one in particular and wiped his brow. The body of Minato Sahashi was starting to be one big mystery. Seemingly nothing was wrong with the boy, his pulse and other life signs were normal and the equipment from the ship was showing that the sekirei cells in his body were active but not doing nothing. If something was required to be pointed out, they had bonded to his cells even more. The brain waves was another matter. Minato's brains were active, they were even more active than it was supposed to be. It was like Minato was not in a coma but in fully aware. If the readings were right, Minato's brain was starting to be on the genius side of the board in terms of brain usage.

Akitsu was sleeping in her own room, seeing Minato laying in a bed with weird woman on top of him and caressing his cheek. She shouted in anger and tried to get through the window that were separating the two. The woman on the bed looked at Akitsu and shaked her head. Akitsu stared at the woman with pure anger. How dare she keep her away from her ashikabi and touch him. Minato was her's, not that woman who was now sitting next to him. It hurted Akitsu to see Minato but be unable to touch or talk to him. Akitsu started walking around the structure that she now noticed infront of her. It was a square structure and so far with only one window. Akitsu circled the building but saw no means of entry other than the window. Creating a pillar of ice she lifted herself on top of the building, not trusting that there weren't any traps on top of it. Seeing nothing more than a sleek white surface, Akitsu jumped down. Looking through the window and feeling pain in her heart as she was so close but so far from Minato. Tears fell from Akitsu's eyes and the froze before dropping from her face. Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder and she spun around, turning her hand into a ice blade. She was now face to face with the weird purple haired woman and with her hand ready to strike at a moments notice, she asked who the woman was and why she was keeping Akitsu away from Minato.

"I know you're hurting child. But I can't let you see him yet, he is still unstable." The woman said and Akitsu could hear the regret in her voice. She melted the ice from her hand and stared at the woman.

"What do you mean?" Akitsu asked and turned her head back to Minato. If she couldn't be with him, she could at least gaze upon the man who was her everything.

"Somebody has injected your cells inside him Akitsu. That's why he reacted how he did." The woman said and came to stand next to the ice sekirei. Without waiting for a reply, the woman kept talking.

"I am the Old One or Iliana if you prefer and I have looked after you and your sisters from the day you left us. It pains me that I can't help any of you as you are too far away but maybe I can give you another hope." Iliana said and turned to face Akitsu, who was now staring at the woman with disbelief.

"You were all so small when you left, barely old enough to be sent away." She said and lifted her hand to Akitsu cheek and Akitsu couldn't feel any malice from the touch. She looked deep in her eyes and Akitsu knew that she was seeing how Akitsu had been treated.

"I am so sorry for you child. You were supposed to find happiness and peace, not war and pain." Iliana said and wept for the sekirei she saw in Akitsu's mind.

"Don't speak, just listen." She said and placed a finger on Akitsu's lips, preventing her from talking and only after Akitsu nodded, she took her finger away. Akitsu was feeling overwhelmed at the precense of this Old One as she had said. She could feel the weight of years on her voice and demeanor but still she couldn't quite trust her yet.

"You and your sisters were sent away because our planet was dying. Dying at the war we had brought upon ourselves. I watched you all the way and only after you crashed in the planet you are now, my link with you were severed. I was supposed to help you awake in your new home and tell you who and what you were. All that was lost when you crashed and I didn't know what had happened. The little I know about you now is gathered from the dreams of sekirei and the information I got from you helps me understand that boy. I was surprised when I found him here, a place where only sekirei was supposed to be. This is the remnant of the psychic link I have with you. I think Minato's mind came here to run away from what ever had happened to him and because you are now intertwined, I can talk to you like this." Iliana said and created a bench to where to sit and she motioned Akitsu to join her. Akitsu sat down at the bench and was still wary of the woman.

"if you wish, I can show you what you were supposed to see when you woke up." She said and offered her hands to Akitsu. Akitsu stared at the hands of the other woman, debating with herself as to touch the woman or not when suddenly the woman started talking with a hurried voice.

"The link is growing weaker, you must be waking. Come to me when you can, I am here waiting and don't worry about Minato. I will save him from the misdeeds that had been done to his mind." Iliana said and vanished from the bench. Akitsu turned her head and saw that she was inside the structure again, taking care of Minato and then she woke up.

She spasmed up from her bed inside the tiny and dark room they had given her and pondered what was that and what was she supposed to do now. Akitsu started crying for her being so powerless and unable to help Minato. All she could do, again was weep and hope and she had run out of hope a long time ago. Akitsu rose up from her bed, deciding to go for a walk and left the small room she had been living in. As she crossed the yard to go walking her path, she heard a scream of pain. Whispering Minato's name, she ran to the door where the sound had come. No-one had told where Minato had been placed and now that she was sure where he was, no body was going to stop her. Akitsu slammed herself through the thick metal door and saw Minato strapped into a bed with needles being stuck in him. Akitsu's anger went to astronomical heights in that instant. She was used to being poked and prodded but nobody, NOBODY would do that to HER ashikabi in front of her eyes.

Akitsu's eyes flashed into white and the building was frozen. She launched herself through the window that was separating herself from Minato and struck down every human inside the room. Doctors and nurses screamed in muffled voices as their heads were encased in ice and their hands that were on the restraints were cut off.

"You will all die for this." Akitsu said with a cold voice, mist rising from her body. Everywhere she stepped, a small ice column was formed and then she was among the near dead staff of Kamikura. Some of them were ripped apart by a sudden ice ball that Akitsu planted in their stomachs and some simply were frozen solid and smashed to pieces. When Akitsu was done killing the staff, she walked next to Minato and stroked his cheek.

"It's alright now Minato, I wont let anyone hurt you anymore." Akitsu said and kissed the boy in the bed, not being concerned that they were now inside an ice cavern.

***TsoO***TsoO***TsoO***TsoO***TsoO***TsoO***TsoO* **TsoO***TsoO***

Karasuba was brought out of slumber with the sudden scream of alarms and staff. She was feeling quite angry at the fact that she had been awoken ahead of her own schedule but one look from her window made her laugh. There was a giant block of ice where the treatment center for Minato had been. Karasuba could only imagine what had happened but she was willing to bet that Akitsu had heard Minato from inside that building and not liked one bit what was going on inside there.

"What are you laughing you insane bitch, come here and get that building de-frosted." One of the soldiers from the yard shouted. Karasuba stopped laughing and smiled at the soldier.

"The fuck you are smiling?" The soldier continued. "I am the project leader of this facility and I command you to get that ice off of that building." He continued and showed some sort of a badge to Karasuba.

"Say goodbye." Karasuba said to the soldier and took a few steps towards him. The soldier was rather confused at the lack of response from the sekirei. He had been sure that all of them had to do what they said and this bitch was just smiling at him.

"This is what happens when you don't do what you're masters say." The soldier said and lifted his rifle. Waving goodbye to Karasuba, he pulled the trigger and then he was a pile of bloodied meat on the ground. The other men from his group stared at the scene in disbelief. Karasuba had walked towards him and then he was in pieces.

"You seem to have one thing wrong here." Karasuba said as she kept walking.

"You do what I say, not the other way around. Is that understood." She continued and took the arm of the nearest soldier off from his shoulder.

"IS THAT UNDERSTOOD!" She shouted and took the other arm off. The rest of the soldiers shouted yes over and over and kept staring at the man who had lost his arms. He was still standing in silence as his mind was trying to process what had happened. Karasuba smiled at him and tapped his cheek. Her smile widened as she started to push the blade slowly inside the man's stomach.

"If you ever talk to me or about me in that manner, I will kill you and your families slowly and painfully." Karasuba said and gave the soldier a small kiss on the cheek before ripping him in two. She turned her attention to the rest of the men who were nodding, too scared to talk. Karasuba turned her back to the soldiers and turned her attention to the ice block in the middle of the complex.

"Now, what am I going to do with you, hmm?" karasuba said to herself and was not surprised to hear Yahan come to the scene.

"We need to inform Minaka about this." Was her only response as she knew better than to point out the stupidity of killing their own troops. Karasuba conceded and sent Yahan to report to Minaka as she was more interested to see if she could get inside that block of ice. She walked around the building and was not surprised to see that every entryway was frozen solid, even the door Akitsu had gone through was solid as a rock and when Karasuba had striked the ice with her sword, it hadn't given in a inch. This rose the anger of the black sekirei as she found some one else, once again, trying to keep her away from her toy or pet as she had now started to call Minato inside her mind.

"You will pay for this Akitsu, of that you can be sure of." Karasuba said to herself as she started to walk around the ice block again, to find a weak point she could get through.

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Takami was staring at her PDA, trying to decide if she should call Miya at the inn and ask if her daughter had already arrived. There were two reasons why she hadn't called her yet and the first was that she wasn't sure that Minaka hadn't tapped her phone and the second reason was that she wasn't sure if Miya would answer her if she did call. It was no secret that Miya hated her because of what Takami did to the sekirei and she was almot certainly partly blaming her for the death of Takehito. With a heavy sigh, she dialed the number as she knew that almost every phone in Tokyo was now "malfunctioning" as Minaka was taking over the communications network in order to get tabs on every one who could and would be an ashikabi. Not to mention to be able to block information about the Sekirei Plan leaking.

Miya and Kazehana was saying their last goodbyes to Kagari who had decided to leave the city, as he was afraid what would happen if he ran into Homura. He had given the name Homura to the gender swapping sekirei when he had injected his genes into him as a means of stabilizing him. It had worked in a sense, it kept him more often as a male than not but that had also given the sekirei his features and that had caused him to think of him as his son and when Minaka had found out that, Kagari had barely escaped with his life. Minaka didn't want anything disrupting his plans and Kagari had started to have his doubts at the treatment the sekirei was getting after he had that connection to one of them. If he had been able to be a ashikabi, he probably would have been spared but being just an assistant had gotten him in the expendable list.

The phone at the inn started ringing and Kagari used that opportunity to hug Miya and Kazehana while saying good bye for the last time. Yukari shouted that she'll get it and lifted the phone from the hook.

"Maison Izumo, how can I help you?" Yukari said and waved at the man who she had seen two or three times after she had come to the inn.

"Yukari?" Came an astounded voice from the phone which Yukari recognized immediately.

"Mom? Oh my god, I've been trying to call you but none of my calls got through." Yukari said to the woman on the other end. Takami cringed at the notion that Yukari's calls didn't get through. That meant that Minaka was screening the calls and knew something was going on.

"Yeah, I've been busy. Just called to see if you've gotten there safely." Takami said and couldn't keep the relief away from her voice. At least her daughter would be safe, all that was left was saving Minato.

"Listen Yukari, this is important. Whatever happens, do not go outside. Is that clear?" Takami said with her no-bullshit-and-you-will-listen-to-me voice. Yukari recognized that voice and knew it meant that disobeying that would mean a severe reprimand.

"I need to shop mom. I can't just stay inside here and not go anywhere." Yukari said with a slight blaming tone. She wasn't happy that her mother called her and started giving her instructions almost immediately. Miya and Kazehana were standing a little way to her back and debated if they should ask her now as Takami had called them. That meant that they could talk to her about Minato. Kazehana came to the phone and said to Yukari that they needed to go the shop now if they meant to eat that day. Yukari nodded and started to say that to her mother when Takami suddenly said to give the phone to Miya. She was a little surprised at the sudden request but agreed. Miya lifted her brow when Yukari said that Takami wanted to talk to her but came to the phone anyway.

"What do I owe the displeasure Takami?" Miya said with unbridled disgust in her voice. Takami sighed and rubbed her temples. This was not going to be easy and she knew that.

"Yukari has a brother Miya, and I am going to ask your help in rescuing him. Now I know that we are not on the best of terms but those children are innocent Miya, they need your help." Takami said with all the pleading she could muster and waited for a response. She got one but it wasn't the one she was expecting.

"You have the nerve to say that after it was you who brought Minato here to be played upon. It was your decision to bring that boy here to be dissected and his mind tampered with. Because of you that boy is as close of a walking weapon as a human can get and you DARE to ask help for him?" Miya said with rising voice as her anger was rising with every word she said to the woman. Takami was very much surprised at the fact that Miya knew who Minato was. But now that she thought that Minato had been able to elude M.B.I for three years, it would be quite clear that he had been in Maison Izumo. Safest place to be was the place where M.B.I were afraid to enter.

"I had no choice Miya. He gave me no choice. Please help me help Minato." Takami was now desperate as her guilt and self-hatred was starting to rise to the surface as she had nothing to dispute the accusations Miya was saying. Miya voiced her disbelief at the no choice part and Takami found herself telling the story behind everything. Miya was shocked at the cruelty of the leader of M.B.I and told Takami to never say what had been said now to Kazehana. Miya needed Kazehana to be able to move and this information would destroy her as Miya knew that the wind sekirei was still in love at the man. She couldn't help it, Minato would've been able to help her but he had been taken which had returned Kazehana to the same old routine of drinking and feeling self-pity. Takami agreed to not tell anything to Kazehana and Miya promised to help Takami on her plan and to keep Yukari safe. Miya knew without Takami telling her that losing Yukari would drive Minato insane and nothing would help him if that happened. Miya asked if they should tell Yukari about Minato but Takami forbade it until they actually had Minato out of Minaka's hands. Then she told Miya what had happened when Takami had been forced to tell Yukari her brother had died. Miya wept for Yukari and then she wept for Minato. They didn't deserve this and MIya almost left after the phone call. She almost took her sword and went to kill Minaka but the faces of a very disappointed Takehito and Minato stopped her. She wouldn't tarnish the only thing they had asked her to never do with spilling the blood of such an unworthy man. Miya only gripped the handle of her sword harder and harder and went to clean the two short swords on the stand.

Kazehana was walking beside the younger woman and was in awe at the bubbly personality she had.

"Why can you smile like that Yukari?" Kazehana asked as she was genuinely interested at the joy of life Yukari had. She couldn't do that, not now as she had lost both men in her life as Miya had. Only now when Yukari had joined them, it had started to get a little less gloomy at the inn but still they both felt the loss of Minato inside the inn. Yukari would never be a replacement to Minato but she was a new and bright existence there and it helped them to cope with the situation.

"What do you mean Kazehana-san?" Yukari asked in wonder as she didn't knew what the older woman was talking about. Kazehana bit her tongue as she remembered that she was not supposed to know that Yukari had a brother, who was now lost.

"I mean, look at the city. Look at life in general. What is there to smile about." Kazehana said, avoiding the real reason she had asked Yukari the question. It was clear that Yukari loved Minato, even if the subject of Minato was not breached. Yukari had talked about an older man she called Onii-chan, not that she had a brother and that Onii-chan had moved but both Miya and Kazehana had known instantly that she had talked about Minato.

"There is much to smile about. Being alive is one of those things and I believe that if we don't smile for the people who we have lost, we demean their importance. It's like we don't care that they would want us to smile and laugh. I wouldn't want people who miss me keep crying. People should laugh and smile when they remember the people important to them, that is the true way of valuing people and their actions." Yukari said with such a conviction that Kazehana was astounded. It was a very idealistic way of looking life but it was also something she hoped she could do. Kazehana suddenly hugged the younger woman and surprised her completely.

"Umm. Kazehana-san?" Yukari asked after awhile as the woman kept hugging her. Kazehana released Yukari and apologized and only said that her words had touched her. Yukari took the explanation in stride as she remembered how sad the other one usually was and if her words had helped her to move past that, it would have been what Minato would've done. Yukari had tried to be like her brother as she thought it would be the best way to remember him and keep him close.

"Come, the shop is just around the corner and we need to hurry." Kazehana said and grabbed Yukari's hand and started to pull her towards the shop.

***TsoO***TsoO***TsoO***TsoO***TsoO***TsoO***TsoO* **TsoO***TsoO***

Takami was staring at the folder in her hands and trembled. In the photo was her mother, on a cold metal table with empty eyes and the all too familiar y-section they had done to her to discern the cause of death.

"Why?" Takami asked with a quiet voice as she felt empty. Empty of emotions and numb to the world. She wouldn't be able to see her son, her son who were being cruelly experimented with. She couldn't see her daughter or she would bring her into harms way and now her mother had been killed.

"I felt it fair to give you a warning Takami-kun." Minaka said with a voice like he had just given Takami a slap in the wrist for being late for work.

"A warning. You killed my mother as a warning?" Takami said as the words her former lover said was starting to sink in.

"Yes, I thought that giving you a warning before resorting to more serious means would be in order as your services so far had been exemplary." Minaka said with that ever present smile. Takami was starting to tremble more and more and contrary to Minaka, it was not from sorrow. Takami was trembling under barely controlled anger, she was ready to kill that smug bastard in his fucking white cape. Her eyes stared Minaka down and her hand were creeping towards the tranquilizer gun she had in her jacket after having to sedate a sekirei. Takami toyed with the idea of injecting Minaka with it and slowly dissecting the man to pieces but when Minaka pressed a button on his desk which showed a building incased in ice, she faltered as she recognized the building as one of the Kamikura complex ones.

"What did you do Minaka? WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO!?" Takami shouted as she lunged toward the man, now totally ready to strangle the man to death. Only the sudden appearance of M.B.I security forces stopped that from happening as they pulled her away from the man.

"I didn't do anything Takami-kun, this is all Akitsu's work. But you don't need to concern yourself further Takami-kun. I know about your plan and let me remind you of this. You don't need your legs to do your work. Take her back to the labs." Minaka said with indifference as he was now turning his complete attention to the screen. Yahan had informed him of the situation and he was now eager to see how it would resolve itself. Would Yahan and Karasuba break in to the building or would Akitsu let them in. Minaka laughed out loud as he was thinking how the setting up of the board was this much fun, then how much would it be when the plan started. He made a mental note to push his staff more as he wanted more results in moving the plan forward. He was eager to start.

"Hiroto-sama, the department chiefs are ready for you now in conference room 1." Said the blonde secretary and forced Minaka out of his delusions of the grand age of gods.

"Yes, thank you Yumire. Tell them I will be there shortly." Minaka answered and typed a few notifications to his staff in Kamikura and for the newly appointed adjusters that were in charge of the new sekirei that came in from the island. He could barely contain his enthusiasm for knowing how were the adjusting going along with them, especially the one with the ability to control fire. Rubbing his hands together in glee, Minaka made his way to the conference room.

"Welcome gentlemen. Now, please tell me that you have good news today so my good mood would stay that way." Minaka near shouted as he slammed the doors open and scared the scientists inside.

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Akitsu was afraid. She was more afraid than she had ever been in her life. After her rage had dwindled, she had seen the carnage that she had brought upon the people inside and when that hadn't made her feel anything, she had started to be afraid of herself. She wasn't some mindless killing machine, no that was the black one outside who was trying to get in. Akitsu had kept increasing the volume of the ice but now she was afraid that it was too much. Minato was blue and shaking and Akitsu was rather sure it was her fault. It was the scientists fault, that was what Akitsu kept telling herself. It was their fault as they were doing horrible things to her ashikabi and she had to protect him from the pain and suffering they had caused her. Akitsu wept on Minato's chest and repeatedly said I'm sorry, over and over again. She was sure that because Akitsu had been winged by him, he had now become a test subject to maker knows what kind of tests. And it didn't take long for Akitsu to fall asleep on top of Minato as she was feeling exhausted. Using her powers to the extreme like that and then feeling emotional turmoil had taken a lot out of the sekirei of ice and being finally together with Minato had all made her feel so weak. Minato's steady heart beat comforted her and so she slept, she slept better than she had since she had last slept with Minato.

"Akitsu my child. Wake up." Akitsu heard a familiar voice and opened her eyes. She was again in front of the white cube shaped house and the woman was next to her, smiling that gentle smile that should've made troubles fade away but Akitsu just couldn't bring herself to trust that face. Akitsu rose to her feet and searched for Minato with her eyes and when she couldn't find him, she turned her eyes toward the woman and turned her hand into an ice blade.

"Minato is fine Akitsu, he is just sleeping. Transformation is never easy and it takes a lot out of you." Iliana said softly and made no move to guard against Akitsu. The fact that she had openly told about Minato made Akitsu lose some of her aggressiveness but not enough to melt the blade from her hand.

"What transformation? What have you done with Minato? And why am I not with Minato, I was with him just a minute ago." Akitsu asked in quick succession and Iliana lifted her brow at the intensity of the woman. Akitsu was supposed to be cold and unattached. Even if this was her ashikabi, it was remarkable how much tension and emotion she put in those words she had said. She was becoming more like her mother.

"He transformed as a result of your winging. They had injected your cells into him when they injected him with sekirei cells and if I read this right, they injected you with his blood when they gave you the shots for your winging procedure. This is something that is very rare. It would be the equivalent of siblings winging each other at home. Unorthodox and not that wise but still, not unheard of either. Fate, it seems is a fickle thing." The purple haired woman said as if she talked to herself and didn't notice that Akitsu was still there.

Iliana easily saw the confusion in Akitsu's eyes and decided against of explaining it further as it would most likely confuse the woman more. With a smile, she invited Akitsu to come inside the house to eat and see for herself just in what kind of condition Minato was in. As they entered the house, Iliana told Akitsu that this place they were in was not physical. It was purely mental and as such, very prone to shift in shape or context. The reason why it was a white cube inside a white nothingness was because Minato was unconscious, the moment he regained his senses would change the whole place and Akitsu was the only one who could stop this place coming literally the stuff of nightmares. Akitsu declined the eating part and went to the bed with a beeline and settled herself next to Minato and just looked at him.

"When you wake up Akitsu, you need to take Minato and yourself somewhere else than where you are now and hide. You need to hide until Minato is ready to wake up and do what he is now supposed to do." Iliana said and pressed a few buttons on dashboard that had sprouted itself from the wall.

"What is he supposed to do then?" Akitsu asked with an edge in her voice, being half sure that most of Minato's problems were because of this one woman.

"Save the sekirei of course, he is now the only one who can do it. And mostly thanks to you." Iliana said and pointed a finger on Akitsu and made her fall asleep. She reminded her of taking Minato away from there and hide in a telepathic whisper as Akitsu jerked awake in the same frozen room where Minato was still tied to the bed and into a myriad of monitors. Even without the vague remarks from the odd woman, Akitsu had decided take Minato away from there, the only problem being as how. Akitsu was thinking when she heard a distinct cutting noise and a hectic growl form outside the room which indicated that time was running out. Before Akitsu could make a move, Karasuba bursted through the ice layer with an evil grin in her face.

"Hello Akitsu, and just what are you doing with my pet?" Karasuba said softly and pointed the tip of her nodachi toward the ice sekirei. Akitsu didn't answer Karasuba, she just wrapped her arms around her ashikabi and stared at the black sekirei.

* * *

Wow, this was a lot faster than I thought. And longer too. I know this seems a bit like unimportant rambling but I felt this was necessary for the story and so you're stuck with it. Sorry about that. I tried to end this chap better but everything I tried was just not that good in my head and honestly, this was the best I got. And I don't think I'm gonna write about Musubi as one of the guests reading this wanted. It could be possible but highly unlikely. Anyhoo, here's a new chap and it is quite possible that I do a time jump in the next chapter or to be precise, it's gonna be between chapters. In a way. Well I'm gonna try anyway. See ya laterz

-DraXXter-

**getsuga1993:** Hopefully this helped with the whole Kagari/Homura thing and I do appreciate that you brought that to my attention. ^^


	10. Chapter 10

I don't own sekirei or anything sekirei related

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Akitsu kept staring the woman who had bursted through the ice and was now pointing her blade at her.

"I wont let you touch him." Akitsu said with a calm she was not feeling. She knew how deadly Karasuba could be and she knew just how much that woman liked to kill. Karasuba's murderous habit's were no secret among the sekirei.

"Step away from my pet Akitsu, I'm going to tell you this only once." Karasuba said as she took a step closer to the huddled form of Akitsu.

"NO! I will not leave my ashikabi again!" Akitsu said with conviction. She was not going to let Karasuba do what she wanted with her Ashikabi, not anymore.

"Then you leave me no choice. Instead of killing you in front of Minato, I'm just going to gut you here and now." Karasuba said and lunged forward, trying to impale the other woman on her blade. She was half-way across the room when she was stopped in her tracks. Karasuba's eyes narrowed in annoyance as she felt the tip of a blade in her neck.

"What are you doing?" She hissed at the intruder.

"Saving your life." Yahan said with a calm tone, knowing that this was the biggest gamble in her life. Being the target of Karasuba's anger was never the smart thing to do and Yahan really hoped that she would be spared from it. Karasuba looked around the room with more attention to see what Yahan was talking about and when she noticed what Yahan was talking about, a big smile broke on her face.

"Min-chan. You always seem to have more surprises for me." Karasuba said with a pleased voice and she sheathed her sword. Akitsu was wondering what the black sekirei was talking about until she noticed a trail of ice spikes that originated from Minato's hand. Quickly pulling Minato away from her chest, she looked for signs that Minato was awake but his eyes were still closed. 'How did you do that Minato?' Akitsu wondered, trying pointlessly to hide the fact that even she didn't know from the other two sekirei in the room.

Karasuba looked around the room again now that she had calmed down and was slightly impressed at the signs of slaughter in the room. She had thought that she was the only one who would do that much damage to humans but clearly she was wrong. Now the notion of Akitsu joining the Disciplinary Squad was not sounding so bad.

"Yahan. Inform the tower that Minato has stabilized and somewhat awake and we are moving him back to the tower." Karasuba said, looking at the sleeping form of Minato on the bed. Yahan nodded and left the room, hoping that Karasuba would not harm the ice sekirei or the boy. Yahan was sure that however she was going to get out of this mess that was her life, Minato would be one part of it. Wether he liked it or not.

"Akitsu, could you now remove your filthy hands from my pet? Before I chop them off." Karasuba said angrily as she was not going to kill the other sekirei, yet anyway. Akitsu shaked her head in clear defiance.

"I will not leave my ashikabi again. Not for any reason." Akitsu said and wrapped her right arm with her powers, ready to implant an orb of ice in the middle of Karasuba's head if need be. The pure killing intent from Akitsu made Karasuba smile.

"He is going to be my Ashikabi too, you know that Akitsu. Both of you will join the Disciplinary Squad." Karasuba said and walked around the bed, trying to get near Akitsu. Akitsu kept turning the bed with her as she was sure that Karasuba would not kill Minato, harming him put aside and that way the safest bet would be to keep him between them for a while.

"If he chooses to wing you and you consent to it, I have nothing against it but I will not let you near him until he has awoken and given me the permission." Akitsu said, being very confrontational about the most important man in her life. Karasuba enjoyed the defiance from the other sekirei even if it did anger her. It had been awhile since she had met someone with a backbone. Well, Minato was one and he was good at hiding it. She bowed to the words of Akitsu and went to lean on a wall. She had all the time in the world to teach the other sekirei who was in charge and of what.

Yahan was quickly making her way towards the communication center, trying to figure out what to say to the staff in the tower to be let there aswell. She was trapped in the island and she wanted out of there, in the tower she would have the opportunity to break out of there and find an ashikabi and a way out of this insane life. She hated the fact that her only skills involved murder and other means of disposing of people when all she wanted was to live in peace. Being an assassin was taking it's toll and if what she heard was right, this was not even the half of her duties that would be shoved on to her. As she entered the room where you literally could contact anyone and everyone in the world, she gave the order to inform the tower that the package was coming back and that she should be brought along with it as the remaining staff in the island could handle the situation. Getting the ok from the other side she sent the word to pack her things and then she left to tell the others that the trip back to the capital was ahead of them.

In his office Minaka was laughing. He had gotten the information from the island along with the most recent report on Minato's condition and he was feeling more ecstatic than ever. Minato was along his way to coming back to being the ashikabi of the Disciplinary Squad and being more powerful than ever would mean that he could start the plan as soon as the remaining sekirei would be adjusted and released. He had made the choice of releasing the already adjusted sekirei in the tower among the public a few days ago as the numbers who were not adjusted was now around twenty. Already the most of the sekirei that had been in the tower was now walking among the people of tokyo, trying to find their ashikabi and he had already made a few information calls to the few ashikabi in the city who had winged a sekirei.

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Takami was talking to Matsu, as she was trying to tell her that Minaka was on to her but Matsu was not listening. She wanted out and even if Minaka knew about her plan, she was going through with it.

"Don't you understand you stupid woman! The moment you step out-of-bounds, you will be killed or worse." Takami shouted at the spectacled sekirei who was in her room, doing the final adjustments on her plan. She was going to release a program that made the security cameras of the tower useless and rendering the other protection around the center of the tower that held the Jinki inoperable.

"No Takami-tan. Matsu has to do this. There is no way Matsu can leave those in the hands of a madman." Matsu said with a tone that made it clear that there were no debating on the matter.

"Fine, at least wait until Minato comes back. I had a notification that Minato is coming back with Akitsu, Yahan and Karasuba. Please wait until they come back and then you can go and get yourself killed." Takami said as she gave up on trying to convince the sekirei to not go through with her plan to steal the most guarded secret in the tower. Matsu was rather surprised that Minato and Akitsu was returning, after all they hadn't been gone for long. If they really were returning, it would be worth the wait as she would then get help from the ice sekirei and should improve the odds. Akitsu could freeze anything that would stand in their way and Matsu could use her skills to ensure that no other sekirei would be able to intervene. So she agreed to Takami's suggestion and left her plan alone, for now anyway. Takami reminded Matsu that Minaka was still on to her plan so maybe she should lay low for awhile. Play that she is doing exactly what she was supposed to do rather than doing everything else she was not.

Benitsubasa was going for the mess hall that had been opened again now that most of the sekirei had left the tower. They were supposed to get meals provided to them but as the numbers had started to increase, the kitchen staff had been hard pressed to meet the demands. Sekirei ate a lot compared to the humans and there were gluttons among the sekirei. She turned around the corner and was greeted by the sight of a very lost Haihane.

"Benitsubasa-sama, I can't find the cafeteria." Wailed the lost sekirei as her stomach grumbled. Benitsubasa didn't answer, she only grabbed Haihane's hand and started to pull her along when Takami shouted them to wait from behind. They waited until Takami was with them, Haihane giving the woman an idolized look as she knew how much Benitsubasa liked Takami.

"So Tsubasa, how are things going?" Takami asked, hoping that Minaka hadn't done anything to them.

"Fine Takami-sensei, we just finished training and are going to eat at the cafeteria that just opened in this level." Benitsubasa asked, slightly amazed at the question. It hadn't been long since their last talk and she wondered what could've possibly happened in such a short time. Takami lowered her voice to prevent others hearing her, among the others were the cameras in the corridor that had sound recording devices in them.

"Minaka knows and he's brining Minato back. I just got Matsu to postpone her plan and wanted to warn you." Takami said with a hurried tone before continuing her non important banter. Benitsubasa eyes widened as she was truly terrified of being find out. She didn't much care about the president at this point as she had resolved in helping Takami because it had been Takami who told her what was actually going on inside the tower.

"What do you suggest we do?" She asked the older woman, trying to think something to help her and Haihane if Minaka ever called them to the office or worse.

"I don't know and I don't think Minaka will tell me anything. We need to lay low for a while. And just to be on the safe side, I'm not going to see either of you until further notice. Karasuba is coming back and we can't risk her getting pissed. She doesn't listen anyone as you very well know." Takami said with a hint of fear as she remembered that she was returning with Minato.

"Did she..?" Benitsubasa left the question open on purpose as the thought of that woman being winged was terrifying. They knew that when sekirei was winged, they got a power boost and Karasuba had been the most powerful sekirei Benitsubasa had ever seen. If she has gotten winged, Benitsubasa doubted that anything could stop her. Takami shaked her head in response and said her goodbyes. She was on her way to make the final adjustments to three other sekirei which Minaka had forced on her, saying that she was the only one who could adjust them in time. After those three, it would be only the sekirei number 107 and 108 or commonly known Shiina and Kusano in her care. Takami had refused any other sekirei as those two were not much less deadly than Karasuba.

Kusano could make plants grow everywhere and she ment everywhere. If her power was not soon restrained, they could have human shaped bushes in the tower. Not to mention Shiina who in turn was marked in records as the sekirei of death, could mean that the employees who wandered too close to him had the very distinct possibility to be reduced into soup. They had been paired as Shiina was the only one who could help Kusano keep her powers in check by wilting anything Kusano unwillingly grew and Kusano was the only one who could give Shiina's powers a target that would not be human. 'No rest for the wicked.' She thought and went inside the elevator that would drop her down two levels, where Kusano and Shiina both lived.

They had been deemed to dangerous, they had the whole level to themselves having their food being sent down. Takami was saddened that Kusano would not be able to see any other sekirei until her adjustments were done and Takami was very much against at adjusting the girl quickly. Kusano was only 9 for god sakes and much too young to be apart of this insane game.

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Minato was awake inside the light cube for the first time since he had been made to drink that awful smelling liquid. Looking around him, now that he wasn't in pain, he noticed that the room was an infirmary of sorts. Trying to find the woman who he faintly remembered, he rose from the bed only to find out that his legs weren't working and that the floor under the bed was just as clean as the rest of the room.

"You shouldn't get up yet Minato." He heard a woman's voice say from behind him before he was lifted and placed in a sitting position on the bed. Taking this chance to see who the woman was, Minato was not surprised how he had confused her as being Miya-neesan. They both had purple hair but she was taller than Miya had been and much...fuller. Minato blushed slightly and berated himself on thinking that way. Minato kept looking at the woman, trying to get a picture of her and he couldn't help noticing that her hips swayed quite nicely.

"Now Minato, it's not polite to stare." The woman said, keeping her back on the boy. Minato stuttered an apology and started to wonder what was wrong with him. He was god knows where and that woman was god knew who but there he was ogling her. Iliana laughed internally at the young boy as he was apparently waking up to puberty. 'Well it was to be expected. Being kissed by an amazing looking woman will do that to a hormone driven boy.' She thought to herself, not saying anything out loud as to not embarrass the boy. The bits and pieces she had got from Akitsu's mind had told her much about Minato and the few fragments of memory she had been able to extract from the unaltered mind told the rest. Minato was a gentle and compassionate boy who had the great unfortune of being the son of M.B.I's president, who in turn had tried to make his son into a walking war machine. And that man had effectively enslaved the remaining sekirei race, threatening his lover and daughter in the process.

"Who, Who are you?" Minato asked the woman while trying to move his legs.

"I am the guardian of the sekirei race, well we are not originally called sekirei but that name works just aswell as any other." The woman answered and turned towards Minato with a syringe in hand. The syringe brought flashes of medical rooms and people he didn't recognize in to his mind along with a feeling of fear and anxiety. Minato didn't even notice the faint glow in his right arm before it dwindled at the words of the woman walking towards him.

"I am not going to hurt you Minato, I am trying to help you. I have seen inside your mind and I am sure that not even you know what kind of a mess it is. I am trying to free you from your own mind as you are now a prisoner of it." The words scared and reassured him at the same time. He remembered some conversations with Takehito, where he had said that Minaka had tried to alter his mind to be a perfect Ashikabi. The only thing Takehito did not answer was when Minato had asked at what an ashikabi was.

"What will that do to me?" Minato asked when Iliana was next to him and was about to inject him with what ever was inside the syringe.

"It will give your organs and mind a big shock in an attempt to awaken your true self from the deepest pits of your mind. We are now inside your mind, where the biggest problem is and frankly where the biggest shock will be felt. I am not going to lie to you Minato, this will hurt." Iliana said and looked Minato straight in the eye to show him that she was not lying.

"And if this doesn't work?" Minato asked in fear of the response as he was quite sure of what it would be.

"You will remain as you are. An unfeeling machine who thinks of nothing more than the next battle. And it will also let loose the sekirei inside of you, making your own self more buried as it will become weaker than the prominent force leading your actions." The woman said and gave Minato time to digest what had been said. Minato knew that he had been injected with sekirei cells, and quite a lot of them. He also knew that the cells were the reason behind his beast self.

"And this is the only way?" He asked just to make sure.

"The only way I can help. The other would be asking help from the people who did this to you and I don't think they would be inclined to do so." Iliana was not sparing any punches as she needed Minato to know just how desperate his situation was. Seeking confirmation from the boys eyes, Iliana made a quizzical look which was answered with a nod and clenching of teeth.

"Good luck Minato, and remember that you have Akitsu." Iliana said with a whisper and injected the fluid inside Minato. He screamed the second the fuild entered his bloodstream. It felt like his hand was on fire and his eye was melting. Iliana looked at the boy with a sad look as she knew that she couldn't help him as this was something that only the strength of that boys will would accomplish. Leaving the light cube to enter the main computer of the ship in Kamikura, she let out a little prayer for the sake of Minato.

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Karasuba was glaring at Akitsu and she took a step towards the woman.

"If you don't remove your hand Akitsu, I will remove it for you. Permanently." She said between clenched teeth while she wondered why it mattered to her. Minato suddenly screamed and jolted upwards from his bed. Akitsu was immediately there and tried to hold him down as flailing inside a helicopter was not a good idea. Yahan was going to help until she saw the lines of white coming out of Minato's right hand and the faint glow from his right eye.

'What's wrong with his hand?' Yahan asked herself as she took a step back. She didn't know anything about human diseases and even if she was supposed to be immune, that was something she was not going to risk. Akitsu and Karasuba didn't notice the arm until it reached his elbow. Karasuba was now eyeing Yahan with suspicion as she saw that she was trying to back up even more.

"What now Yahan? Afraid of one pathetic human?" Karasuba snarled at the assassin sekirei, being irritated enough as she was forced to share a cabin with a discarded number and a coward who struck at the shadows. It was even more annoying to see the broken sekirei being too close to the young man who was constructed solely to be her ashikabi and toy. Yahan didn't say anything as she pointed Minato's hand. Both Akitsu and Karasuba turned their attention at the hand. Akitsu gasped and took Minato's hand in her own while Karasuba had an amused look on her face. 'What's this Min-chan? More surprises?' She thought to herself and opened the door at the side of the helicopter. She could see the tower already and she jumped off. She wanted to tell Minaka about this most recent occurrence and then she was going to play with June some more. Yahan kept staring at the boy in the bed and wondered if she would survive this game after all. Akitsu clung to Minato's hand and tried to awaken the boy, she was worried as she could feel faint traces of her own power pulsing within the hand.

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Minaka was sitting in front of very nervous scientists who were summoned to tell him what was going on with Minato. Almost 12 hours had passed since the helicopter had arrived and they could get him to treatment. Minaka was surprised that it had been Karasuba who came with the news but knew better than to pursue that train of thought while Karasuba was in the room.

"Tell me." Minaka said calmly and waited for the first one to clear his throat.

"He is still unconscious and while most of the tests wont be ready until tomorrow, we already have confirmed that the cells inside his body are now concentrated in his right hand and the right side of his brain. How and why are unknown, however it is without a doubt that Minato's body has become normal." The first said and offered his folder to Minaka before sitting down and letting someone else be the center of attention.

"What do you mean normal?" Minaka asked and looked closer at the file in his hands.

"I mean normal. Not taking account for his right hand and his eye, which has turned completely white, Minato is very much a normal teenager" The first scientist said, hoping that he would excuse him. The sheer insanity that was shining from the eyes of the president was unnerving. Minaka frowned at the information. The second scientist rose up and walked to a projector, turning it on he started to show slides of Minato's brain.

"As you can see, the parts of brain that are affected are mostly around the normally unsued parts of the brain. As we don't know what those parts of brain controls, we have no way of knowing what has changed. Until he is awake that is. After that we can run more tests." The second scientist took a pause for questions.

"And the eye? What can you tell about the eye?" Minaka asked the obvious. He was slightly concerned that Minato might be blind in his right eye. The second scientist cleared his throat and changed to the slides that were about the boys eye.

"He has no pupils and iris, meaning that he has now one eye that is completely and utterly white. There is no indication of optic nerves or anything that would suggest that there is any eyesight left in the eye. Again, we can't confirm that until he awakens and we can run more tests." The second scientist ended his speech and gave the folder to Minaka while sitting down. The third scientist rose up, being more nervous than the others as he had heard the last one to hold his position had had a heated discussion with one of the sekirei and that had been the last time anyone had seen him.

"We know that he has some of the power of the number seven in his hand, and he is somewhat able to project her powers from his hand." The scientist started and was startled when he noticed that he had peaked Minaka's interest and had now his full and undivided attention.

"He can project sekirei powers? So he is half-sekirei now?" Minaka asked in confirmation. His hopes was rising as this was more than enough to counter weight the loss of eyesight and the changes on the rest of the boys body.

"Yes and no. He has the ability to project some of the powers his sekirei has. We read the report from the incident at the base in Kamikura and that shows that he can use the ice powers as well. When we started the test, we could confirm that his powers reacts to bodily harm and pain. He surrounded himself in ice spikes. The spikes however were only 25cm tall and could be easily broken. We don't know if this is only because he has just gotten the powers and they are not under his control but we are 99% certain that he can't use those powers like number seven can. Most likely he would be able to defend himself to some extent before his ashikabi comes to save him. There is also the fact that at some points his eye flashes. It gives out small light but we don't know why and every test we have done was inconclusive. So far we have not determined what makes the light come out, sort of speaking but we have confirmed that his eye is much tougher than his left eye. We tried to take a sample of the fluids inside the eye and the needle broke. And this is all we have been able to conclude without further test and as the others had told, he needs to be awake for them." The third scientist said and drank his water glass empty. The combined effort of talking for a long time and seeing Minaka staring at him, frowning at times, had dried his mouth.

"Very well gentlemen. Is there anyway we can forcibly bring him out of the coma like state he is in?" Minaka asked and got a table full of disbelieving looks.

"Sir, I don't think that would be wise. We have no way of knowing what will happen if we force him to be awake. He could go on a rampage." One of the men around the table voiced the collective thought.

"I see, then we need to prepare for that don't we. Take Akitsu and Takami in the room and wake him up. I am quite sure that Akitsu at the very least would be able to stop Minato." Minaka said and dismissed the group. He walked to his office, smiling the whole way. 'If Minato really has sekirei powers, this is a blessing. I need to get him to wing Karasuba as soon as possible.' He thought and walked inside his office, barely containing his enjoyment before he frowned at the information flashing in his computer screen. Homura, Tsukiumi and Uzume had been released and Shiina and Kusano was very much behind schedule. The amount of sekirei in the tower was now 10 and decreasing. Opening a different folder, he saw more sekirei being winged and with a smile, he started telling the people involved that they were now his puppets.

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"What have they done to you Minato?" June asked silently as she gently stroked Minato's cheek. It had taken a long time to get her calm back after the sudden visit of Karasuba but she couldn't help herself. Minato was her plaything and not that sekirei's and now she was in a room with other scientists and Takami. June wa sure that Takami could stop Karasuba from attacking her as she had been the sekirei's adjuster. She also needed some other protection against her and that had been provided with the appearance of the ice sekirei. It had surprised June that Minato had winged a sekirei without talking with her but she forgave him. She was sure that it was only a mistake on Minato's part. June couldn't help but grin at the thought that Karasuba was watching her with Minato and grinding her teeth in frustration.

"Don't worry Minato, I will make it all better again." She said and gave a kiss to Minato's cheek before injecting the same mind altering drug that she had used on Minato since he entered the tower. June had switched the wakening agent when she had gone to get the stimulant and gotten the idea of getting Minato to listen to only her with the drugs and then she could use him as a puppet. She smiled at the images that flashed in her head, the things she would make Minato to do. The images had gotten a lot more bolder as she had seen what had happened to Minato. It made her shiver and she was lost to her imaginations as she ran her hand over Minato's muscles.

"Continue with the treatment June or I swear to god I will make a pincushion out of you before letting Akitsu do what she wants." Takami said as she was disgusted at the woman and how brazenly she fondled HER son. Akitsu was also glaring daggers at the brunette and every one saw the mist that was rising from her fingers which ment that her powers were in use. Suddenly Karasuba bursted through the door, spotted June and smiled.

"Here you are June, I was looking for you." Karasuba said with a gentle tone that Takami knew didn't mean anything good. She almost didn't say anything as she thought that anything Karasuba said or did to that repulsive failure of a doctor. Takami took a hold of Karasuba's hand and pulled her to the side, already talking so that Karasuba wouldn't attack her in blind rage.

"Do not interrupt this treatment Karasuba, Minato's life might depend on it." She said and looked the sekirei straight in the eye. It had always puzzled Karasuba as why her powers didn't frighten the woman but that had also made her gain Karasuba's respect. She loathed humans but Takami was one human she could respect. She wasn't weak, well not as weak as rest of humans seemed to be and Karasuba could see where Minato had gotten his strength of character. Of course Minato was afraid of her but that was a sensible fear. One should always fear power greater than their own and Minato had the same unwillingness to back down as Takami had. Karasuba only nodded and continued to stare at June with eyes that promised more pain when they were alone.

June left the bed and the rest of the room waited to see Minato rise. They waited and waited and nothing happened. The scientists in the room went to see the readings their equipment were giving and after they had checked and double checked the results, they notified the people in the room that Minato was not responding and for fearing of giving him brain damage, the next dose was scheduled to be injected tomorrow. Takami cursed and Akitsu let her powers fade as they both looked Minato with pain and regret. 'Why can't I ever help you when you need it Minato?' Takami thought to herself and left for her apartment inside the tower. Akitsu was as emotionless as ever and without a word, exited the room and started her wanderings through the endless corridors of the lower levels of the tower. She needed time to think of a way to help Minato out of the coma he was in as it was clearly her fault. The faint traces of her power she had felt from Minato's hand was also something that she was in need of pondering.

Karasuba turned her head to see where June had gone and when she didn't see her anywhere, she left the treatment room to go to June's office once more. They needed to talk about the agreement they had done. Walking with a brisk pace, she went straight to the elevator on the end of the corridor as the offices of the staff was one level up. June watched from the entrance to the toilet as Karasuba's back went further and finally she entered the elevator. 'Now to end the treatment.' She thought and walked to the treatment room silently. June opened the door and saw nobody else but Minato inside the room. With a smile, she pulled one more syringe from her pocket and went to inject it to Minato's arm as she whispered in his ear.

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Matsu, Benitsubasa and Haihane, who was still yawning, were all in Akitsu's room to get the latest info about Minato. Matsu had come to the realisation that even if it weren't been the intention, all of their planning at this point revolved around Minato. They were happy to hear that Minato was back and Benitsubasa had started talking with Haihane at the possibility of getting to fight with Minato, both had been rather quick to assure Akitsu that they ment it as an activity and not an actual fight as the temperature in the room had started to drop really fast. Akitsu was showing very possessive traits when Minato was the subject and Matsu couldn't help but wonder what made that boy so special that the sekirei who was known to be emotionless and devoid of interest in anything was getting pink cheeks and fits of jealousy and their resident psychopath was starting to show an unhealthy interest in Minato as well. Matsu was starting to want to see him personally as she studied these two. When she had talked to Benitsubasa, she had gotten the image of a sniveling boy who did not like violence and she could not understand how that made anyone appealing.

"Open your eyes Minato." June whispered at Minato's ear as she was now sure that her suggestive treatment was working perfectly and Minato would now awaken as her mindless puppet. She almost squealed at excitement as Minato did open his eyes, but her enthusiasm soon turned into horror as she felt a cold grip in her throat and the look of a very angry Minato.

"Do not touch me woman." Minato growled and threw June to the treatment table on the far corner of the room. June stayed on the table and tried to get more air into her lungs all the while repeating that she was June to Minato. Minato rose from the bed he was laying on and found himself in regular hospital clothes, cotton pants that were a size too large as they were ment to be comfortable and he was without a shirt because his chest was filled with wires and sensors. He ripped them off of him with disgust and then he heard what the woman in the corner was muttering to herself.

"I'm June Minato, surely you know who I am. Please recognize me, I'm June. I have always been there for you." June was saying over again as her voice was getting higher. She was shocked that Minato, who was her puppet, did not do what she had told him to do when she had injected those drugs. They had worked before, why weren't they working now? She could not understand it. Minato walked to the woman and stared her in the eyes.

"I know full well who you are and I am also very much aware of what you have done to me." Minato said as he lifted June from the table. June was now begging Minato to come back to her as she was the only one who cared for her. Minato's mouth twisted into a nasty grin.

"You disgust me woman. I'm going to tell you this now, before I end your miserable excistence. I am not the Minato you think I am, I am something more." He said and started to tighten his grip around June's throat. June's eyes widened as she felt her breathing come more laboured and a unfamiliar coldness started to seep to her body. Minato growled like an animal as the images of June's torture flashed throught his mind and with a sudden and violent jerk, he twisted June's neck and threw the body through the glass that separated the treatment room from the equipment room. He spotted a white jacket next to the door and proceeded to leave the room as the only thought in his head was to find Akitsu.

Akitsu was walking at the corridors now as the meeting, that's what Matsu had called it, was over and she had planned to walk towards the room where Minato was in. She turned around a corner and felt herself hit something. It was something solid that made her heart race on contact and that was all the information Akitsu needed to know that she had indeed walked straight into Minato's arms. She heard a whisper which sounded very much like her name and she lifted her head only to be kissed by Minato. Light wings of brilliant blue flashed in the darkened corridor as Akitsu felt her breathing stop. The sheer sense of relief almost overwhelmed her and she would have fallen on her knees if Minato hadn't caught her.

"Come Akitsu, we are leaving." Minato said and took the woman he knew he was destined to be with by the hand and started to make his way towards the elevator. Akitsu was trying to make sense of what Minato had said through her addled mind as she was still trying to digest what had happened. She had felt lonely and miserable as her ashikabi was in a coma and she couldn't do anything about it. Now she was happy, feeling relief and disbelief that it had indeed been Minato who she had walked straight into, let alone kissed. And now they were leaving.

"You need to talk to your mother." Akitsu said as it was the only coherent thought she could produce at the moment. Get the one woman she could really trust to take a look at Minato before something bad happened. Akitsu was rather familiar of things going wrong just as they were supposed to be good.

"I have no mother Akitsu and I will not stay here for a minute longer. Am I making myself clear?" Minato said with a voice that brooked no objection.

"Yes Minato-sama." Akitsu said and walked next to her ashikabi not noticing they were holding hands. Akitsu was thinking why Minato would say that he had no mother. Takami had clearly stated herself as being the mother of Minato and now Akitsu was wondering if she had lied. Akitsu couldn't think any reason for Takami to lie and she was not going to ask Minato as he did not want to talk about it. A sudden realisation dawned at Akitsu and she stopped just before they entered the elevator. Minato looked at as why would Akitsu stop now and he saw her eyes shimmering.

"What is wrong Akitsu? Are you feeling ill?" Minato asked with concern. He had been just re-united with his sekirei and she was looking like she was going to cry.

"No Minato-sama, I am alright. It's just that I haven't been able to pledge my self and it bothers me. I am...was a scrapped number and." Akitsu let her voice fade. She had never talked like that, it sounded weird in her ears. She had sounded...normal.

"You are my sekirei Akitsu, and you never were a scrapped number. Now, come." Minato said and pulled Akitsu to his arms as he pressed the number for the ground floor of the tower. The elevator took off but stopped five floors before the ground floor which made Minato to growl in frustration. He didn't like the fact that he now had a habit of growling when he was irritated but quickly moved his attention to more pressing maters. Such as how they were going to get to the ground floor now. The doors of the elevator opened and dark purple eyes were staring them with surprise being the most showing emotion in them. Minato quickly dashed forward and tried to grab the darks skinned woman who was standing before the elevator door but she quickly disappeared and reappeared twenty paces away.

"I am not your enemy Minato Sahashi." Yahan said as she kept racking her brain. To say that she was surprised to see Minato and Akitsu in the elevator at this time was and understatement but she immediately recognized this as her only option of getting away from this. Minato looked at the woman, not believing a word as he knew personally that anyone inside here was not to be trusted. The only ones who weren't included in that was him and Akitsu. Minato turned his head slightly as he felt Akitsu grab his hand.

"She works with Karasuba and Karasuba wants you to wing her and become the ashikabi of disciplinary squad." Akitsu said to Minato as she was sure that nobody had told that to Minato and Minato needed to hear this. Yahan's eyes widened at the accusation of her being a friend of Karasuba's and she started to talk, very quickly.

"No. I do not work with that woman. I simply did what I needed to do to survive. Trust me on this.." Yahan said with a pleading voice. She would beg this man if it helped her out of this tower and out of this insane life she had been forced to live. Minato's eyes narrowed as he kept thinking. It didn't help that his mind was a mess, he could remember bits and pieces that he had categorized as the memories of the other Minato and he knew that it this woman indeed had just wanted to survive, she had needed to follow the orders given to her.

"Who are you?" Minato asked, hoping that it would reveal more information. He needed rest in somewhere safe so he could get his mind straightened out.

"I am sekirei number 57, Yahan and I would very much like to accompany you in leaving this wretched tower." She said with all the sincerity she could muster. Minato nodded at the information as he grumbled the lack of information in his mind.

"What do you say Akitsu, should we take her along?" He asked and turned to look at her. Akitsu felt a surge of jealousy and thought about it as it was her ashikabi's wish. She looked at Yahan and could not feel any insincerity from the woman and then she looked at Minato but could not read the look on his face. His right eye was glowing faintly and that was obscuring his face in the dim light that was coming from the lamps embedded in the lower section of the walls.

"What ever you decide, make it quick. The patrolling guards should come around this way soon." Yahan said as she knew that if they got caught at this point, no amount of explaining would be sufficient to save her or those two from trouble.

"If that is what you want Minato-sama, I will not go against it." Akitsu said, making her mind up in following what Minato would want. She placed her trust in him and would go along with anything he wanted. Minato looked at Yahan once more, slightly startled that the slight fuzziness around Yahan was not because of the lighting in the corridor but was somehow connected with the power the woman had. 'She's hiding her strength, but is it to fool us or sensory equipment in here?' Minato thought and let out a heavy sigh.

"Fine, come with us. You will listen to what I say and if either me or Akitsu find something funny going on, that will be the last thing you do. Did I make myself clear?" Minato said and went back to look at the control panel in the elevator, trusting Akitsu to keep an eye out.

"Yes. I understand. Thank you." Yahan said and took a few tentative steps towards the pair. She felt flushed after the intense look Minato had given her and relieved as she knew now that she would get out of the tower.

"You need this Minato." Yahan said and pulled a black card from between her breasts. Minato blushed slightly at the slight jiggle of the black haired womans breasts and took the card. 'Warm.' Was Minato's thought as he took the card and inspected it. It looked like a regular plastic card that was given to customers in some shops and he guessed, correctly, that the reader on the side of the numbers were the place it should be used. Akitsu and Yahan stood on eithersided of Minato as he pulled the card through the reader and after a beep from the console, the elevator started moving again. This time they got to the ground floor. The sneaked out of the small cabin and Yahan gave the sign that she would go and see when they could leave. She came back quickly and explained with hushed voice that there were five guards in the lobby and three cameras pointed at the general area. She also pointed out that it would be easier to leave from the fire exit that was behind the door that lead to the staircase and if Akitsu froze the sensors, they would not alarm that the door had been opened. Both Minato and Akitsu agreed to this and they made their way to the fire exit.

"Are you going to come with us all the way or are you only coming this far and then split up from us?" Minato asked after they had exited the door and left the yard that surrounded the tower. It would be easier to plan when there were no fear of interruptions.

"I was planning on following you, if that's alright. You can wing me if you want Minato, I'm sure you could use the help." Yahan said calmly. Minato was a man she could live with and the idea of someone winging her against her will was not something she would enjoy experiencing. Not that she didn't like forceful men. Minato was thinking about winging Yahan and decided to ask.

"Are you sure you want me to wing you? From what I know, that would be a done deal with no chance of refund." Minato said and pulled Akitsu closer. He was being protective about Akitsu, a trait he found that both he and the other Minato shared. He knew that Akitsu would not, most likely, like him winging others but it was also true that he needed help to accomplish what he needed to accomplish.

"Yes, i'm quite sure. I don't think I would run into a better man than you and who knows, I might start to like you." Yahan answered, feeling that she best keep honesty as the best policy. Akitsu stiffened at the words of the other sekirei but the reassuring squeeze from Minato made her realize that Minato would not abandon her or forget her.

"Wery vell then. Yahan, become my sekirei and help me change the world." Minato said, sounding very pompous. 'That sounded so much better in my head.' He thought as both Yahan and Minato took a step closer to each other and kissed.

There was a flash of smokey light and dark grey wings which seemed like they were made out of smoke springed from Yahan's back and her eyes widened at the warmth that spread throughout her body. 'Wow, I might do this a lot more if it feels like this.' She thought and smiled at the idea of kissing Minato more. She was not immediately in love but she did like him and being cute was not a bad thing either. She also knew that men and women did have sex and or petting when they were together and when she saw the look on Akitsu's face, she decided to ease her worries.

"I am not going to steal Minato away from you Akitsu. You need to tolerate me until you learn to know me." Yahan said and offered a hand to Akitsu, not sure if the other woman would preferred a hug instead but she wasn't that much into bodily contact. Akitsu stared at the hand and took it after awhile.

"For Minato, I would do anything." She stated and dropped the hand, turning her attention to Minato and she frowned as she saw Minato holding his head. Minato felt that Akitsu was worried and reassured that he was fine, just in need of rest. Preferably somewhere safe. Akitsu took Minato in her arms, not listening to the shouts that he could walked and jumped to the roof of the building next to them. Yahan was already waiting them on top of the roof and Akitsu glared at her.

"No need to get protective, I can just teleport short distances." Yahan said in a neutral tone as she was sighing inside her head. 'This will be fun.' She thought as she could clearly read from Akitsus face that she did not trust her yet.

"I can search for a good hiding place with my teleportation powers and I think you should take off from here and make some room between you and the tower." Yahan said and took out to look for a good hiding place. She had always had a knack at finding those, mostly from experience from her line of work. Akitsu started to jump away from the tower, aiming for the big municipal building in the distance while waiting Yahan to find a resting place. She didn't trust her yet, as she was sure that Yahan was working with Karasuba but only time would tell.

"Don't worry Minato. I will keep you safe." She whispered to the boy who had fallen uncoscious in her arms. She smiled at the peaceful look in his face and wowed to keep him safe no matter what, even if she needed to kill every single human who came into contact with him. Not even Karasuba came near him without permission, this she swore to Minato and went to wait for Yahan behind the big machines that were on the roof of the municipal building that turned out to be a school.

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So here we are again. Hopefully you don't think I am moving too slow or fast with the pacing of this one but I think the sekirei plan will start in another chapter or two.

As you may or may not know, I am writing another sekirei story along with this one. The main reason is that the idea for the other one (Darkness Consuming) did not leave me alone and I found myself writing that in the middle of this chapter, so I had to write that out of the way. Sorry about that :D It would please me if any of you who read this, would read that one as well and give me your opinions on it. As always, I would very much appreciate any reviews, opinions and ideas you want to tell me for this one. I assure you that I read every post you write and give the ideas some thought. And last but not least, if there is something wrong in this story, tell me. It could be that I use a theme too often or too little, not concentrating on characters enough or if you would like me to use more description on places and charactes, tell me so I know what I am doing wrong, if I am doing something wrong :D

**RecklessBaka:** I am truly happy that you like this story. Please continue reading and giving your feedback ^^ I hope I can answer your questions in the upcoming chapters :D

**Han-Ko:** I know it doesn't always seem like it but I do try to oblige my readers. n_n

**Emeraldfireblade:** I thank you for your continued support ^^ I am happy that I have a regular reader, I you don't mind me saying so. :D


	11. Chapter 11

I do not own sekirei or anything related to sekirei

Parts of this were re-written on 19.08.2013. I had been notified that here was a drop in quality. If it still persists, let me know so I can do something about it.

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Minaka was staring out from the windows of his office and he was furious. He had heard through the intercom that Minato had, once again, broken out of his grasp and nobody knew where he was. This was the last time this is going to happen and he had to make sure of it. He grasped the phone on his desk and called Karasuba to his office and after that, he called at the center of his personal military force and ordered them to hunt Minato down.

"But Sir. We can't just go into town and start a systematic search. The police will be alerted and if we..." Came the pleading voice of his chief of staff of military forces and his grip tightened at the phone.

"I don't give a flying fuck! You will go out there and hunt that boy down and if you let anyone stand in your way, you will be a bloody heap of meat by the end of the day. I don't care if you need to kill the boy, so long as you bring him back. Am I understood!?" He shouted at the man on the otherside and hanged up without hearing a reply.

"Ara~ Is the monkey getting anxious in his cage?" Karasuba asked and smiled at the raging man. Minaka rubbed his temples, trying to calm himself down. If he talked to that woman while being angry, he would be rude and then he would be dead.

"No Karasuba. I need you to go to this treatment and then go after Minato." Minaka said and showed her the contents of a folder he had in his desk.

"And why would I do that?" Karasuba asked, not being even mildly interested in the folder.

"Because I need you to be winged with Minato as soon as you find him and at your current power level, you will drive him into a gibbering pile of flesh that doesn't benefit anyone." Minaka said while sitting down on his chair. The sudden drop he felt in the chair reminded him that he had ripped the lever that controlled the elevation of the chair clean off after he had heard the news of Minato's newest jailbreak.

"And this treatment will power me down? I still don't like it Little Man." Karasuba said with an edge in her voice. Nothing that could make her weaker than Miya was considered a possibility and if need be, she would only keep Minato as stress release, not an actual power booster he was ment for.

"Yes, it will power you down. Temporarily. We are concerned that the surge of power he is bound to feel, as he has been injected with sekirei cells, will short-circuit his brains. Leaving him useless. So go to this treatment and after that, you can do with Minato what ever pleases you. Just keep him alive and well enough to be of use in the plan." Minaka said and poured himself a drink from the bourbon he kept hidden in one of the drawers in his desk.

"Fine, I will do this. Do I need to remind what happens if you lie to me?" Karasuba replied and started walking out with a slow pace.

"No, you don't." Minaka said and shifted his attention on the screen of his computer when it flashed that his personal army was deploying. 'Good thing you don't know when someone lies to you Karasuba. After the treatment and winging from Minato, you will do what ever Minato says and I will make sure Minato does what ever I want. If not, there is always Yukari.' He thought and smiled to himself.

Takami was smiling at the news she had heard. Minato broke out and refused to be a puppet, that much was clear. The only thing that bothered her was that June had been found dead at the supply room of the treatment room where Minato had been and it was more than possible that Minato had killed her. Remembering the videos of this new Minato, she could only hope that someway, somehow, she would be able to return her son to normal. The flash in her computer brought her out of her musings and she smiled again. 'Perfect, this will the only opportunity to do this and god help me, I am going to make it work.' She thought and left her office in a hurry, determined to reach the labs before the sekirei did.

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Minato gasped and pressed his wound again. Akitsu had suggested that she freeze it but Minato had told her no. The pain in the wound kept his other self at bay and he needed to concentrate in order to plan his next move. He hadn't expected to be shot on sight when they had gone back to the tower to see if they could find out what their current plans were and even with his new capability to shield himself, which had come as a surprise, he had been unable to stop the bullets. They had altered trajectory and instead of being shot in the stomach, the bullets had gone through the left side of his stomach. Yahan had examined the wounds with her blade and dug out the one bullet that hadn't got cleanly through and then they had used her shirt to bandage the wound.

"This is a bad place to hide Minato-sama. I am quite sure that we will soon see sekirei hunting us and there is no place here to hide other than this. They will attack here as soon as they follow our trail." Yahan said with a calmness in her voice she didn't feel. She trusted in her powers as well as Akitsu's but there were many sekirei in the tower and just with the two of them, they had no chance of holding them off.

"We are not going to be here much longer Yahan. Only long enough for me to steady my breath and to lure most of enemy forces here." Minato answered and grabbed his wounds again when he felt the other one rise in his mind again. Akitsu looked her ashikabi with sorrow in her eyes as she felt miserable of not being able to protect him.

"Akitsu, stop it now. It was not your fault. I sent you away from me to gather information. There is nothing you could have done." Minato said gently. He loved the two sekirei he had. His human side that he now kept at bay, told him that it was impossible but he knew better. His whole being had felt a sense of fulfilment soon after he had winged the two and he knew that they loved him. That was how the sekirei lived, loved and died. They knew how their own life worked and no part of the human still inside of him was going to convince him otherwise.

"Listen you two. I am going to tell this only once and I'm doing it now just in case I black out. Understand?" Minato asked both of the woman who were now kneeling in front of him. Yahan and Akitsu nodded, smiling at him as they knew that he was worried about them and that was the reason of the briefing. He didn't want to leave them to their own devices and gave them something to do while he recuperated.

"I am going to assault the tower. Before we do that, I am going try and find allies as I am sure that the opposition in the tower will be heavy. I need you two to go out in the city after we leave this place and find me possible allies. Do not abduct anyone or force anyone to come. There is no need for it. If someone is already found their destined one, leave them alone after you warn them of what is to come. Any unwinged you meet, you will talk to them and ask them , politely, to come to see if I am their destined one. You two know as well as I know that more and more sekirei will flock to me after I have winged you two." Minato said while trying to steady his breathing. It was hard to talk for that long as the pain kept shooting out of his side but it also helped him to be in control. He knew that somehow he had to get rid of the other one inside his mind and fast. It was too straining to keep fighting for control. The two women nodded and Yahan went back to the crypt door to continue being a lookout while Akitsu stayed with Minato.

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Miya was standing in the hallway of Maison Izumo, feeling distraught. It was time to go visit Takehito's grave but she didn't want to leave without telling where she went, just in case Takami would call again. She was about to tell yukari, who was weeding the garden again, that she was leaving as she remembered that Kazehana usually spent time in Minato's favorite spot. As Miya went to the second floor, she hesitated a bit as the way to the roof was through Minato's room. She could get there from outside but she didn't want to alarm Yukari. If she went to the roof using the fire-escape Yukari would no doubt wonder why she was going to the roof.

When she reached the roof, she immediately spotted the wind sekirei in her usual purple dress. Miya shaked her head lightly as she still couldn't understand why Kazehana wore that dress. Disregarding her thoughts, Miya made her way to Kazehana.

"Unsual for you to be here Miya, where's the fire?" Kazehana asked, not taking her eyes off of Yukari.

"Nowhere, I wanted to let you know that I'm visiting Takehito's grave today. So you need to be on your guard in case Takami calls again. Not to mention that you need to keep your eye on Yukari. Something tells me that this day is different from usual." Miya said and looked towards the city.

"I know what you mean Miya, the wind feels cold today." Kazehana replied and took a sip of her sake.

"I'll keep an eye out. Give Takehito my regards." She continued and waved the other woman goodbye. Yukari lifted her head from the flower bench just then and wondered why Kazehana waved to nobody. Shrugging her shoulders, she went warm the bath.

It took Miya half an hour to walk to the graveyard and the whole time there she was forming sentences in her head so she wouldn't talk incoherent nonsense to the most important man in her life. She opened the gate to the graveyard and felt a sense of dread, it never stopped. Every time she came here, she half-expected to see Minato's grave. 'What is wrong with me today? This is day just like another.' She said to herself and walked straight to the grave.

Miya stood in front of a grave she knew only too well. Her fingers went through the letters that spelled the name of her beloved Takehito as she was here again to ask for forgiveness for herself. She knew that Minato was and is a big part of her now and she still felt like she was betraying Takehito when she felt that.

"Am I doing the right thing Takehito?" Miya asked as she knelt in front of the grave.

"Is it wrong of me to feel the need of Minato? How can I embrace him while it feels like I'm pushing you away? Like I'm defiling your meaning?" Miya asked with desperation, bringing voice for the turmoil she felt inside of her.

"Is it wrong to keep Yukari in the dark? What would you do if you were still here. I miss your wisdom at times like these and that makes me even more ashamed when I think about Minato." Miya knew that she was rambling and didn't make any sense but this was the only place where she could voice her self doubts and make things clearer to herself. She was just about to talk more to the lifeless headstone when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned her head and saw soldiers in black uniforms with big white letters spelling M.B.I. Miya narrowed her eyes at the sight and quickly pulled her shoulder from the grasp.

"I would perefer if you would not touch me." She said with a strained voice. She was furious of how the soldiers of that madman came and interrupted her time of sorrow and self searching.

"I'm sorry ma'am but we need you to vacate the premises. There is a dangerous person on the run and we are hunting him down." The soldier said, unfazed at the blatant hostility he encountered. He was used to it as he worked for the most hated and loved company in the world. Anyone wanting to get in it, treated him well and anyone hating the company treated him like shit. He was used to it.

While Miya was visiting the grave, Kazehana had found herself in the need of telling Yukari about the whole ordeal. She felt that it was wrong of them, of her, to hide things from Yukari and she had gone into Yukari's room with two bottles of sake. Kazehana hoped that the talk was over well before Miya came back or she would suffer the cost.

"So what's this Kazehana-san?" Yukari asked and pointed to the two bottles of sake in her desk. She didn't feel comfortable at the idea of drinking and she had told Kazehana that she didn't drink.

"It's for me Yukari and from what I'm about to tell you, I have a feeling that you'll be needing some too." Kazehana said and poured herself a glass. Yukari was feeling a sense of dread about what she was hearing.

"Do you remember when your mother came to pick your brother?" Kazehana said while staring straight into Yukari's eyes. Yukari's eyes widened as the words came out of Kazehana's mouth. She had not talked about Minato, only about an older man and Kazehana new about her mother coming to take Minato away.

"No need to answer Yukari, I can see it that you do." Kazehana continued and poured another cup to herself.

"That was the last day Minato Sahashi spent as a normal human. Your mother, Takami Sahashi gave Minato to be experimented on. His mind was altered, he was given the harshest training treatment on martial arts that you can think of and that is all thanks to your mother." She said after drinking the cup empty with a single gulp. Yukari was stunned at what she was hearing and she couldn't believe a single word.

"No! You're wrong! Mother loved us, loves us. She would never do that! My brother came here for a special school and he died on a accident in a school trip!" She shouted at the dark haired woman who was telling her these lies out of nowhere.

"I'm not lying Yukari. I wish I was but I'm not. Your brother didn't die, he was left for dead yes but he managed to crawl here. Here he was treated by Miya and her now dead husband Takehito." Kazehana said mercilessly. This was something Yukari needed to hear and she was going to tell it. Miya was wrong on holding this information from Yukari and she couldn't see how bad of a thing it was until Minato made it back to the inn and would give Yukari an heart attack.

"My brother is alive?" Yukari whispered.

"Yes, Minato Sahashi is alive. Or was, who knows now. He was dragged back for testing by one psychotic bitch. Or rather, Minato chose to go with her in order to save me and Miya from any trouble." Kazehana continued, remembering how Minato had went along with Karasuba like a whipped dog.

"MY BROTHER WAS ALIVE AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME?!" Yukari now shouted as she was livid. There was no way in hell she would ever believe that Minato would let her believe he was dead.

"He didn't know that you thought he was dead. Minato didn't want to drag you into this so he kept playing along the fact that he came here for school and not to be a plaything to the richest man in the world." Kazehana slurred, she had already downed the first bottle and was on her second cup of the second bottle. Yukari stared at Kazehana, trying to find any lie in the woman's eyes.

What do you mean a plaything for the richest man in the world?" Yukari asked.

"Yes Kazehana. What in the world do you mean?" Came a dark voice to their right which made Kazehana pale. She wasn't fast enough and this was not a good thing. Miya was furious at Kazehana telling this to Yukari without her being there and Yukari was furious to the both of them as she now knew that both of them had known about her brother and not told her about it.

Miya had just returned from the graveyard, being troubled at the interruption and she had heard Yukari's question and she immediately knew that Kazehana had told Yukari almost everything. That had been the last straw and her anger flared. She had briskly walked to the open door of Yukari and glared at Kazehana. Now she was in a full blown argument with Yukari about Minato and keeping secrets of that level.

"I fucking hate you both right now." Yukari said and stormed out of her room.

"Yukari-chan." Kazehana called and stormed after her, knowing this was not the best of times to be alone.

"Don't talk to me right now. I need time to think alone." Yukari shouted as she left the inn.

"Miya, you're better at sneaking. Would you please go after her to make sure she doesn't get hurt." Kazehana pleaded the purple haired sekirei. Miya said nothing, she walked closer to the other woman and slapped her in the head with a great deal of strength.

"Do not think that we are even near of being done with this talk Kazehana. We will talk about your behavior for this night." Miya said with a voice that reminded Kazehana about their days on Kamikura. The days when Miya was almost unfeeling as Karasuba. She only nodded and went back to Yukari's room to drink the bottle empty.

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"Stop running, there is nowhere you can go!" Karasuba shouted and continued her chase of the three. Karasuba had been surprised to see that the three persons that were reported shot at the tower had been the three she had been looking for. Karasuba usually didn't follow the so soldiers of M.B.I but this time she had been utterly pissed and needed something to vent her frustration on as her first plan of playing around with June had not worked out, she being dead. The people on the street looked with wide eyes and pointed after them and few started to call the police. Karasuba eyed the crowd in annoyance but continued the chase. If the police forces of these imbeciles would be so eager to die, she would oblige them.

"What do we do Minato-sama?" Akitsu asked and looked back. She tried to pick up her pace as she saw the black sekirei gaining ground on them and felt Yahan trying to do the same.

"We stop. I don't think we can run from her now." Minato said, trying to come up with a plan. The two sekirei halted on top of one of the bigger buildings and waited for the other sekirei to catch up on them.

"Ara~ I didn't expect you to actually wait for me Min-chan. How nice of you." Karasuba said as she landed a few meters away from the three sekirei. Yahan was ready to teleport in a moment's notice and she kept her grip in her dagger, getting ready to attack the sekirei. She feared the woman but she did not want to lose Minato, she would protect him. It had been a winging out of necessity but she had seen how he treated Akitsu and it hadn't took long to him treat her just as well. That had sealed the deal and the fact that her bond had forced the feeling of connection did not dim the meaning of it in the slightest. Akitsu was building up her ice spheres so she could plant them to the madwoman if she took a step towards them and she didn't stop even when she saw that Karasuba noticed the mist revolving around her. Minato's eye was flashing as it struggled to see the aura around Karasuba that twirled in black and red, promising death and destruction and his hand was throbbing. He knew that it somehow was linked to Akitsu and her usage of ice powers and he wondered if his shields and spikes were stronger now that Akitsu was closer and readying her powers.

"Nothing to do with nice Karasuba. We just didn't feel the need to run anymore and besides, I have a proposition to you." Minato said after he came to a conclusion. Both Yahan and Akitsu tried not to look surprised at the words of their ashikabi and even if they felt nervous, they trusted Minato to do what was best for all of them.

"A proposition you say? What makes you think I'm interested?" Karasuba asked, feeling interested at what could that boy propose to her that would make it a valid deal.

"The memories of my other self. It is clear to me that you are interested in him, and me as we are mostly the same person." Minato said, waiting for Karasubas reaction. Akitsu was slightly bothered by the fact that this was not the same Minato she knew, but he looked the same and treated her the same and Akitsu knew that that Minato was still in there and wouldn't leave her. She took solace in the information that her Minato was still in there.

"I am merely looking for a toy, not a partner. I do not count any human to be worthy of being my partner so I think we are done talking. I will wing you and make you my pet." Karasuba grinned and launched herself towards Minato. Akitsu and Yahan was in an instant motion but they were stopped by Minato.

"Do not interfere. She means me no harm." Minato said and stopped his two sekirei on their heels. Akitsu and Yahan was bewildered at the command and all of their being was telling them to fight that monster off and run away with Minato but they couldn't go against direct order. They had vowed to follow his lead and they would not defile their vow or bond and disobey him now. With great reluctance, they both stepped down and stared Karasuba. Karasuba had been surprised at the order and stopped herself to appraise the situation.

"You will let me make you my pet then Min-chan?" Karasuba asked and walked slowly towards the boy. She could feel some measure of power from his right hand but it was so small she didn't take it as a threat.

"No, you will become my sekirei and do as I say." Minato stated and felt annoyed by the whimper in the back of his head. 'Would you stop that? It is highly annoying.' He thought to himself, trying to tell his other self to shut up. He had gotten the idea of winging Karasuba when he felt the terror from his other self towards the sekirei, it was clear that if Karasuba was around him more, the other one wouldn't. 'She will kill us both now. You don't talk to her like that. We are going to be in pain for the reminder of our short miserable life and there is nothing we can do about it.' The other Minato whined and then disappeared as Karasuba walked closer.

"The first thing I will do is beat that annoying attitude out of you." Karasuba said and traced around Minato's face with her sword as she had got close enough for to do so. Minato didn't flinch as he was sure that she was not going to hurt him. She might be planning to do so but was not going to do it in the immediate future.

"Then I will see how much I can cut you up with out you passing out. I'm sure that you can last longer now than you did before Min-chan." Karasuba whispered to Minato's ear as she traced her finger around the scars she knew Minato had. After all, most of them was her doing and the memories of the pain she inflicted was invigorating. Karasuba slightly frowned as she fealt no fear from the boy but it quickly turned to a smile. She was going to teach him how it was to be afraid again, this time it would be more pleaseant as his will had grown.

"Now, Min-chan. You'll be my pet." Karasuba said and grabbed Minato by the side of the head while Minato was motioning with his hands that everything was okay.

"More likely you're going to be mine." Minato said and quickly crashed his lips against Karasuba's, not giving her time to react. His tongue snaked inside her mouth as she opened her mouth in surprise and there was a black flash from the roof that made people in the streets look up in amazement. Yahan and Akitsu both stared wide eyed at the scene as they had never believed that Minato would be the one to instigate the winging before asking for confirmation. Karasuba practically threw Minato off of her and pointed her sword on Minato's throat.

"Lesson number one. You do only what I tell you to do." She said and prodded Minato's throat with the tip of her sword.

"Stop that Karasuba and sheath your sword." Minato said with a cool voice, hoping that his plan had worked. Karasuba was utterly confused as she saw her body do exactly what it was told to do and even more so when the bigger part of her brain felt joy of being obedient towards Minato. 'Minaka, you sneaky little monkey! When I get my hands on you, I will cut you to pieces one inch at a time!' She screamed inside her head.

"Now Karasuba, I know that you don't like that your body doesn't listen to you and frankly, I don't like it either. But until you learn to accept me, this is how this will work out." Minato said and motioned the other two to come to his side. 'So glad that worked, and this seemed to shut the other one up for awhile too.' Minato smiled at his brilliant plan, still unsure how it worked.

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Takami smiled when the information flashed in her computer, Karasuba had been winged and her plan worked like a charm. She quickly called Matsu and told her to gather everyone to Akitsu's old room. It was time they played their own music instead of dancing to someone elses. When they had gathered to the ice sekirei's former room, Takami asked Matsu to shield the room even when she knew that Minaka would find out about it.

"Tsubasa, you and Haihane are going to take Matsu here to the Jinki core and help her take one of them out." Takami whispered and layed the paper of her plan that she had thought of after reading Matsu's plan. The words Jinki core made Benitsubasa gasp and she stared Takami in horror.

"Takami-sensei. That's madness, that's the most heavily guarded place in the tower. We'll never make it alive!" She whispered back with intensity. Takami only shaked her head.

"Listen Tsubasa, Matsu has had this whole thing planned out without our help, so with the help of you two, this will be easy. And before you even start, Karasuba is not going to be a problem anymore." Takami continued and sighed when the mention of Karasuba not being a problem.

"What do you mean Takami-tan? Since when Karasuba was not going to be a problem?" Matsu asked, being confused at the thought process of the scientist.

"Minaka made her go some last minute changes and I added a new drug we were experimenting on and the results speaks for itself. Now, I'm not going to into detail but trust me when I say that Karasuba is not a problem anymore." Takami said with a tone of voice that meant that discussion was over.

"Okay, so what do we do after that pinky thing?" Haihane asked, wanting to be apart of this conversation as she was invited. Benitsubasa stifled a growl as Matsu hid her giggling behind her palm.

"Jinki, Haihane. It is called a Jinki, not pinky but Jinki." Takami said with gathered calm as even she was feeling slightly giddy about the situation. She was ecxtatic that Minato was out of the tower and away from Minato, she was more than happy about her plan involving Karasuba had worked like she thought it would and even more so as she knew that this was going to be last night she would ever spend in this tower before tearing the man down that was currently sitting on the top. Haihane rubbed her head with her claws before Benitsubasa pulled her hands away from her head.

"Never mind. You are going to Maison Izumo with Matsu after that. But before you leave the tower, come get me. I need to leave this tower too. I can't stay here after this and even if Miya won't take me in the inn, I can stay at least for couple of hours to plan my next move." Takami said as she went through the rest of her plan.

"I'm sure Miya-tan would let you stay for longer if we explain ourselves to her." Matsu said as an encouragement. Takami shaked her head at this and only said to be ready in a few hours.

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Yukari was walking the streets around Maison Izumo as she was still unsure of the layout of the city and didn't want to wander too far from the inn. She was feeling confused, betrayed and happy, all at the same time. Yukari couldn't believe why they hadn't told her anything, why her mother hadn't told her anything about Minato being alive. She was feeling very happy that Minato was alive and betrayed as he hadn't contacted her. Even if the rational part of her brain told her that if Minato didn't know he was declared dead, he should have contacted her just to tell her he was alright. 'Why didn't they tell me?! Gah, I hate them so much right now.' Yukari was brought out of her thoughts when she suddenly walked into something. She started muttering an apology but one word brought her world into a stand still.

"Yukari?" Came the word out of the mouth of one very disbelieving Minato. He had gotten control of his body after his sekirei self had passed out due to blood loss and freaked all three of his sekirei out. He had assured them that he was fine, even if he still felt a healthy amount of dread towards Karasuba, he knew, that like Akitsu and Yahan was now bound to him, so was Karasuba and he had seen that Karasuba was not going to use him for practicing her sword skills.

"Onii-chan?" Came a faint whisper out of Yukari as she stared the sight in front of her. Minato was standing there with three women who were holding him up, being all bloody and gruesome. Her eyes widened even more when she saw that Minato's right eye was completely white and there were some weird white streaks in his right arm, not to mention that the hand of his right arm was completely white as well. Yukari extended her arm to touch Minato and assure her that he really was there when she was violently shoved to the fence next to them. Karasuba held her hand on her throat and the tip of her sword was dangerously close to her eye.

"KARASUBA STOP!" Came the shought out of two different mouths as MIya shouted to Karasuba before kicking her off of Yukari and Minato shouted Karasuba to stop her from impaling his sister. Yukari had fainted at the sight of the sword and slumped down on the street.

"Yahan, check she is fine and Akitsu, please help me sit down. I'm feelind dizzy." Minato instructed before turning his head towards the two women who were now locking their swords together. 'Miya-oneechan' Minato thought as tears came to his eyes. He had not believed that he would ever see the woman again.

"Karasuba." Miya growled as anger flashed through her eyes when she stared at the gray haired woman in front of her.

"Miya." Karasuba said gently and pushed back with her sword with more power. Suddenly Karasuba jumped backwards to get some space between them but Miya was already right behind her. Miya kicked Karasuba again, only to be blocked with the flat of Karasuba's blade. Karasuba countered the kick with a punch which Miya backhanded away from her face and then she proceeded to slash Karasuba multiple times with her sword. Karasuba dodged and blocked the strikes, as the fences around them were being cut to shreds. Yahan and Akitsu stared at the sight, knowing full well that going in the middle of that would be suicidal.

Miya moved behind Karasuba to stab her in the back and was forced to jump backwards when Karasuba kicked straight backwards which made her stand like an awkward letter T. Minato stared in horror as he knew that if he didn't stop this, either of them could die. He started to pull himself upwards from the ground at the help of the fence he was leaning on.

"Onii-chan, is that really you?" Yukari asked when she awoke and saw that Minato was trying to stand.

"Yes, it's me Yukari." Minato said gently and looked at his sister. She had changed alot from what he had last seen her. She was much more mellow and quieter, or had been so foar.

"I will talk to you in a minute Yukari, I need to stop those two first." Minato said and took a shaky step towards the two women that were hell bent on fighting. Akitsu was immediately next to him, keeping him steady.

"Minato, please don't go there. It is dangerous and you could get hurt." Akitsu said with a pleading voice. Her arms trembled as she kept Minato upright when she thought that Minato was going to surely die if he went into the middle of that fight. Minato placed his hand on Akitsu's cheek and forced her to look at him.

"I know it is dangerous Akitsu. That is the reason why I need to stop them. I can't have those two fighting. You know that." Minato whispered in Akitsus ear and kissed her in the cheek.

"Please help me stop them, help me talk to them." Minato asked and stared Akitsu in the eyes. Akitsu looked at Minato's eyes and knew instantly that she couldn't say no to him. She nodded and took a better grip at Minato.

"Yahan, stay here and make sure my sister is safe." Minato said and started to walk towards the fighting pair with the help of Akitsu.

"Of course Minato-sama." Yahan was still a little baffled at the sudden change of Minato but she could feel that he was still Minato and not some changeling. Not that there had been any chance of swapping him to someone else but the change was staggering. This Minato was more sweet and kind than the other one and he didn't give orders, he asked them nicely. While she was unsure what this meant, she knew that she loved this Minato just as much as the other one. Yukari was more confused than ever. Her brother was with three women and he gave them orders and he was so weird looking right now.

"What's happened to my brother?" She asked the woman who was now crouching next to her.

"Honestly, I don't know. I didn't even know he had a sister. I've known him for about two days." Yahan answered, still watching the slow pace Minato was walking. 'The blood loss must be getting to him even more now' Yahan thought to herself. Yukari rubbed her temples as she had a headache now. She needed to talk to Minato but even she knew that something needed to be done before Miya did something that could not be undone. She had instantly recognized the purple haired inn owner when Minato had pointed out that there was a fight going on.

Miya and Karasuba were steadily going around each other, trying now to win with precision strikes rather than raw power. The ground was full of deep gauges and trees were in shambles after they had exchanged blows for a while.

"You always this eager to fight Miya? Or is this a special case?" Karasuba asked, trying to taunt the woman to do a mistake.

"Only when I see your face Karasuba. Makes me want to cut it up and who knows, it might make you tolerable." Miya countered while knowing it wouldn't do any good. The only way to get a rise out of Karasuba was to insult her with humans and she really didn't want Karasuba to go on a rampage. Miya was confident she could stop her but not before the whole neighbourhood would be leveled. Their eyes widened and the lunged towards each other only to skid to a halt when they both recognized the figure that had appeared in the middle.

"Karasuba-chan, Miya-oneechan. Please stop. There is no reason to fight." Minato said as he stood there with his arms extended towards each of the woman. Miya trembled and blinked.

"Minato?" She whispered. She had been too hung up on getting Karasuba away from Yukari that she had not seen who she was with. Minato smiled to Miya and nodded.

"Yes Miya-oneechan. It's me. I'm back." He said and turned his head towards Karasuba.

"Karasuba-chan. Would you please put your sword away? This fighting is pointless." Minato said to the gray haired woman who gave him an very evil glare before she sheathed her sword. She hated that her body moved before she willed it to and even more she hated that she actually wanted to do what Minato said. Miya was very much surprised when Karasuba did what Minato asked and then she narrowed her eyes. 'Is this really the Minato I know or is this something Minaka has come up with?' She asked herself and held her hand at her sword, ready to strike at a moments notice if Minato would prove to be something else he was portraying.

"Thank you both. Now, would it be possible to go to the inn? I'm feeling dizzy again." Minato said and fainted. All three women that were standing next to him, lunged forward and caught him. They glared at each other and only when Yahan reminded them that the longer they stood there, the more blood Minato would loose. This comment made Yukari frantic and she started to shout about hospitals and ambulances before Miya told her that it would not be the best idea. It took them about half an hour to reach the inn and Kazehana was very confused, very emotional and very much drunk and the sight that was standing in the door to the inn almost made her faint. Minato was laying in the hands of Karasuba, Miya and Akitsu while some dark skinned woman was walking with Yukari and everyone was staring at everyone with an evil glare. The fact that she recognized Minato made her stumble at the door and only the shout from Miya to get Minato's room ready made her dash to the upper floor.

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Minaka stared at the man who was dressed in white suit and glaring at him. Minaka knew that Takami had done something to wreck his plans and he was going to counter it with this move that he was planning now.

"What is it Minaka? Why am I here at this ungodly hour?" The man in the white suit asked, trying to control his temper. Even he could not refuse an invitation from the most powerful man in Japan, especially when it came with an escort of soldiers.

"Mr. Izumi. I am here to propose a deal between the two of us." Minaka said and offered the man a drink which he refused.

"What kind of a deal and please, call me Higa. We don't need to be so formal." Higa said to the man and decided to sit down as this was likely to take a while.

"I am proposing you to lead a team of humanoid aliens that posess superpowers as the enforcer. I am planning to start a something really spectacular in this city and your help would be most welcome." Minaka said and took a sip from his glass. Higa stared at him with disbelief.

"Do you think I'm an idiot Minaka?" He growled in anger and started to leave. He didn't come here to be ridiculed.

"No, I am willing to show you proof." Minaka said and pressed a few buttons in his chair that brought his big screen television out of the wall and one of Benitsubasa's and Haihane's training videos started playing. Higa watched it with intently before replying.

"That could easily be done with special effects. Not interested Minaka, not unless you show me proof that can convince me with out a doubt." Higa said, being interested of the possibilities if this indeed was true.

"But of course Higa, come right this way." Minaka stood up and left for his personal elevator.

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And here we are again. Another new chapter :D I would like to inform all of you that most likely, in the next six chapters I am either done with this, or very close to the ending. As that is now said, I wanted to ask you about doing a sequel. I already have an idea for it and could start to write it. I can also, if someone wants, give the idea away for some one else to do a fic on it. If interested on adopting the idea, send a PM and if you think I should save it and do a sequel, you can leave the comment on the review section.

I know this is a bit shorter than what I've posted lately, but I honestly felt that this was the best place to stop. The sure fire of questioning of Minato and his sekirei will most likely consume much and would have made this too long. So here we are. :D

**Emeraldfireblade:** Right you are, the title of the story does indeed refer to the battle of personalities that Minato has and his sekirei personality doesn't take shit from anyone. There is also another meaning for the name of this story, let's see if you figure it out :D

**Arct1cfox: **I try to be unpredictable as predictable stories has the tendency of coming boring in the long run. Hopefully this chapter was just as surprising as the rest of them has been.

**Foxflash16: **I'm very glad that you like this story and I bet this chapter just answered some of your questions :D

Now, I'm going to address these particular reviews I was given by a certain someone, not going to mention who, just in case there are others who feel the same.

In my honest opinion, a balanced character can't be perfect. In canon Minato has self confidence issues and doesn't handle social situations well. He, how ever, has strength of character and a kind heart which allows him to befriend people easily. His moral backbone is strong and he is intelligent. In my fic he started just the same, then he went through changes. He first gained speed and strength but the constant abuse and mental torture made him weaker in those aspects not to mention that no matter the treatment, the one who does abuse and torture you for fun on a daily basis is going to be a huge object of terror to you. Minato is not stupid and knows that Karasuba only expects squeals of pain and agony and downright groveling in front of her if she is going to stop the abuse. That is why he acts around Karasuba as he acts, this still doesn't mean that he is not terrified of an older being that has more strength than a military platoon that gets its kicks on pain. This constant weakening you speak of is because of the balance a character needs to work. If I made Minato into some kind of demigod, there would be no point to this story. In the latest change, I took away his speed and strength but gave him an eye that discerns sekirei from the normal populace and an arm that can use Akitsu's ice powers to an extent. There is no way of justifying a character that is a normal human in it's late teens that can bend elements to it's will and fight superpowered aliens on equal terms. That doesn't happen. Even if my fiction is fiction, I try to keep it as real as I can. Now I hope that this answered to your criticism and I do appreciate it. It brought things to my attention that I didn't think was necessary to explain and thus you have proven me wrong. Hopefully you can enjoy reading this and if not, I bid you farewell and remind you that you don't have to read this if you do not like it.

As for the returning to normal, it is only as normal as he can return. Most of the powers he had, were increased strength and speed. This changed when the cells concentrated on Minato's brain and right hand. His reflexes and skills are intact but there are parts of Minato's brain that his sekirei self can't access and there are parts of the brain that the human Minato can't access. Hopefully this cleared things up and as always, if not. Send me a note or something as if I don't know it's broken, I can't fix it. Cheerio.

-DraXXter-


	12. Chapter 12

I do not own sekirei or anything related to sekirei

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Yukari was standing before the door that lead into the room her brother was now recuperating and debating with herself if she should enter the room or not. She really wanted to be with him but she also didn't want to see just how bad his wounds were. Yukari shifted from one foot to another and decided not to enter just now. The brunette that had entered the room with him could look after him while she gathered the remains of her calm. The small groan of pain made her change her mind and she entered the room. She was greeted by the blank expression of the woman who was sitting beside Minato and Yukari gulped. She wasn't used to being ignored to the point of not getting any reaction.

"H-how is he?" She asked and went to sit on the other side of Mianto. Akitsu didn't answer her, she only shifted her gaze on Minato and took a hold of his hand. Yukari didn't bother to ask again as the other woman would most likely not answer her. She took Minato's other hand on her own and her panic for Minato rose when she saw the white hand and white streaks that were coming out of it and encircling his hand, she hadn't remembered those at all as the whole meeting had been rather hectic. When Yukari squeezed the hand, she could feel the coldness of the hand and she immediately tried to put her hand on Minato's forehead, only to be stopped by Akitsu. Akitsu had a firm grip on Yukari's wrist and her grip was strong, Yukari couldn't move her hand one way or the other.

"He's cold, I need to see if he's got a fever." Yukari explained and was again answered by silence. She tried to give a glare to the woman but Akitsu remained indifferent.

"Who are you and why are you doing this?!" Yukari near shouted when her frustration spiked. She was getting angry about her brother being wounded, angry about this woman who didn't seem to care and who refused to answer her. Akitsu only kept her grip on Yukari's wrist and stared her straight in the eye.

"Those answers should be left to Minato-sama." Akitsu said with a quiet voice before letting go of Yukari's hand. She wasn't used to talking to others than Minato and Takami and the group of sekirei who had being a part of the plan that Matsu had thought up with Takami. Yukari could only stare in disbelief at the woman.

"Minato-sama?" Yukari asked and got a nod in return. She was confused now, why was this woman calling her brother with such respect. What had her brother done in the time she believed him to be dead. She hadn't believed about the things that had been told to her as they had sounded more like science fiction but the sudden appearance of Minato along with a group of woman who seemed to be ready to battle instantly had started get her to think otherwise. The fight between Miya and that other woman had been a shock too. Yukari had thought that battles like that were only in mangas and anime's and seeing one with her own eyes had confused and bewildered her. Only that Minato had been there and she had actually talked to him, made her realize that it had been reality and not some kind of weird dream.

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"Gentlemen. Please be seated and get comfortable as this is going to be a long meeting." Minaka said and sat down on his very big and very chair that he had ordered to be placed in the meeting room. The room full of leaders of every major branch of research were gathered in the meeting hall, all of them were feeling mixed feelings about the reasons behind this meeting.

"I trust that all of you are aware that I and Takami found a ship of extraterrestrial origin on the island that is now known as Kamikura." Minaka said and gave a wave in the general direction where Takami was standing.

"And that inside this ship were 108 lifeforms that are now known as sekirei. This was the time when I understood that the almighty gods of fate had given me an opportunity to change this retched world for good." The madman in the white cape continued and poured himself a shot of brandy.

"We then proceeded to study these lifeforms and found out that they were almost human in their genetic makeup. After waking up the oldest of the group, No: 01, we found out the major difference between humans and sekirei. That was the extraordinary set of powers the sekirei possessed. They were faster, smarter and much much more powerful in terms of strength." Minaka kept talking and shifting his gaze from one head of office from another.

"We made plan then to introduce the sekirei among the human population of Japan. This was decided because we only wanted the means of someone who would prove worthy, to be able to decide the fate of humanity. To ensure this, we needed to change the sekirei that they would be compatible with humans. This is why we took the equipment out of the ship and started to reverse engineer them, we needed money that we could get from understanding and putting use the information the equipment provided." Minaka said and placed his hands on the table.

"We then established the M.B.I corporation and proceeded to buy land and people from anywhere we could get them. The point of this was to get enough land to make sure that the battle that was to decide the fate of humankind would not be interrupted and only those who were chosen could take part." He continued, disregarding the few unbelieving faces in the crowd. His point was getting across to those who mattered, the ones that were responsible for the smooth startup of the plan.

"The sekirei would choose their own partner for this battle, the partner would be a human and is to be known an ashikabi. All of this is not that different on how the sekirei lived originally, as the most of this data was discovered from the ship." Minaka stopped talking when one of the men in the table lifted his hand as an expression of wanting to talk.

"What is it Ryuusuke?" Minaka asked, slightly annoyed by the interruption.

"How can you be so sure that everyone would do as you planned?" The very tired psychiatrist asked. He knew of course but he was sure that other's didn't and this would be a good way to show others just how insane this man was.

"Ahh, I was waiting for that question. If you gentlemen would please open the folder that was provided to you and read it. I believe that would be a sufficient answer to your questions." Minaka said and leaned back on his chair. The reading of the folder would take a long time after all, it was a thick folder and most likely would make most of the men gathered in the room to need a break or two before they had actually read and understood the contents of the folder. Takami glanced at the folder, first time that she found something interesting in the meeting. She was actually curious as what could be so heavy reading that Minaka was sure that it would take a long time process. In the folder were big red letters: PHOENIX PROJECT. Takami's face paled as she started the tremble in rage, she was ready to attack the madman who was now flaunting his torture of her son to a roomful of people.

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"How long are we going to be here Benitsubasa-sama?" Haihane asked and went to raid the refrigerator of Takami for the fourth time today.

"As long as we need to. We need Takami-sensei to come back from the meeting and only then we can plan this thing more thoroughly." Benitsubasa answered and tried to find something to read from the bookshelf that were littering the room.

"And where's the redhead?" She asked after picking a book and noticing that Matsu had left the room on her own.

"Iw dwon't wknow." Haihane mumbled as she was eating a piece of ham that had been in a container in the fridge. Benitsubasa frowned, went to Haihane and slapped her in the back of the head.

"Stop talking with your mouth full, it's disgusting." She said and gave Haihane a stern glare. Haihane looked at her feet and apologized. Benitsubasa sighed and left to find Matsu. She looked around the apartment that Takami lived in the tower and found a bathroom, where she checked the cabinet for skin treatment, a bedroom and finally she found Matsu in the home office of Takami.

"Oi, glasses. What are you doing here?" She asked Matsu who was hunched over Takami's computer.

"Going through the files Takami-tan has in her computer. There could be much information here that could help us." Matsu said with an disinterested voice as she speed read through the files.

"Got anything?" Benitsubasa asked and went over to Matsu, wanting to see if there was anything interesting in the computer.

"Nothing yet but there are so much things here that I'm sure there is something, not to mention that Takami-tan has access to everywhere." The redhead answered and clicked open another file. Benitsubasa sighed and cursed under her breath. When she got back to the living room, she saw Haihane playing a game she had found in one of the cabinets and eating junk food. The pinkette face palmed at the situation. 'She really doesn't know in what kind of situation we are.' She thought and went to read the magazines that were all over the living room table. She hoped that Takami came back soon and they could go over the finer parts of the plan. They had agreed to help Matsu reach the jinki room and that was going to be difficult. Luckily Matsu could disconnect the cameras over there for five minutes and if they didn't run into trouble, that would be more than enough. Benitsubasa didn't want to think about fighting the guards, that would alarm Minaka and he could order the other sekirei to intervene them and that was in the worst case scenario they had come up with.

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Yahan was staring the black-haired woman who had taken her in the roof of the inn without any explanations. Kazehana didn't seem bothered by the stare of the other woman and kept drinking.

"So, what am I doing here?" Yahan asked after getting irritated at the silence from the other woman. Kazehana only gave her a glance and continued to drink in silence, not revealing the anguish that she felt.

"You're his sekirei aren't you." Kazehana stated flatly. Yahan was surprised by the sudden statement but felt no need to lie.

"Yes I am. You got a problem with that?" Yahan asked the other woman who was getting up from laying down on the roof.

"No, I was just thinking why he would wing you. You don't seem to care for him like the white one does." Kazehana said, not even bothering on talking about Karasuba. Even a blind man could see that it wasn't a winging from mutual feelings. Yahan blinked and then felt angry. How dared this scantily dressed hussy question her, what does she know about their situation. Yahan's eyes grew dark at the accusation of not caring about her Ashikabi.

"And what gives you the right to question my relationship with Minato?" She asked with a low voice, trying to keep her anger in check. Even if she was angry, these people had helped them out.

"I got every right! I lived with him, in here. I was there for him when he needed help and he was there for me! Maybe we didn't know as long as he did Miya but I'll be damned if I'll watch from the sidelines when someone who doesn't give a rats ass about that boy pretends to care for him!" Kazehana shouted to Yahan, her frustration being let out finally as everything she had held inside was coming out. The relief of finding Minato safe and sound, mostly and the fact that she could actually go and talk to Minato if she wanted. There was a thing she wanted to ask him, at thing she had thought about for a long time now. Yahan listened with wide eyes to the woman's rant and understood now that Minato hadn't picked this place just because M.B.I was afraid of this place. He picked this place because it was home.

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Karasuba was sharpening her nodachi while sitting in the back porch of the Inn, slightly amazed by the fact that Miya hadn't attacked her already. She could feel the glares that Miya gave her but that was the extent of her hostility. 'What did you do to me Minaka? Why do I feel the need to obey my puppet?' She thought, trying to make sense of things. She already had figured out that the "check up" had been a ploy to make her subservient to Minato and if he could control Minato, he could then control her. She smiled at the challenge of her mentality this brought. Most people only knew her thirst of blood, but it was actually combat that she enjoyed. The complete destruction of her enemies, be it in a battle of strength or will. She would win.

"How long are you going to stare at me number one?" She asked the purple haired woman.

"I don't trust you." Miya answered flatly. She couldn't understand why Minato would have winged Karasuba and had come to the conclusion that Karasuba had him wing her. That was a disturbing thought, Karasuba with an Ashikabi would be a nightmare. But that really wasn't the biggest puzzle here. The biggest one was that Karasuba actually did what Minato said.

FLASHBACK.

_The three women kept carrying Minato while glaring each other. Akitsu didn't want Karasuba anywhere near Minato, no matter how much she was now supposed to be her sekirei and number one was a threat to her relationship with Minato. Akitsu feared that as Minato now had stronger sekirei, she would be forgotten. Karasuba was full of killing intent and stared Akitsu and Miya with equal hostility. She disliked them touching her toy and she disliked how much she was attached to said toy. Miya glared at Karasuba, still being angry at attacking Yukari and she didn't know what to think about Akitsu so she got her share of the demonic stare Miya could produce. Minato stirred in their hands, feeling himself awaken from the amount of threat that was hanging in the air._

_ "Could you please let me down. "Minato said, feeling embarrassed about being carried. The three women placed him on the ground, Akitsu kept her hands on Minato as she helped him steady his feet. Minato smiled at Akitsu and grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze in thanks._

_ "Now, I don't know how much I got time so I'll make it brief. Miya, I need to talk to you when I recover from this. Akitsu, don't worry. I'm not going to leave you behind, I promise." Minato said to the two women, getting a nod from Miya and a small blush from Akitsu. Miya had looked at Minato when he talked and wondered how mature he had become in such a short time. Minato then turned his attention to Karasuba, trying to steady himself._

_ "And Karasuba-san." He said firmly, not taking his eyes from the red orbs of hate that stared him back. 'I hope this is like I think it is.' Minato thought and crossed his imaginary fingers._

_ "You are not to start a fight. You will do your utmost best to avoid a fight. That sword will not come out of it's sheath for fighting. Maintenance is okay, cutting up people is not. All of us will have a talk when I'm better. Understood?" Minato said with a calm he was not feeling. He was expecting to be slapped, kicked and possibly impaled simply because of the tone of his voice. Miya and Yahan stared at Minato with disbelief while Akitsu held complete trust to Minato and Yukari was confused as why everyone was tense. Karasuba growled at Minato and her grip tightened at the hilt of the nodachi, making her knuckles turn white._

_ "Fine." Was all that she said out loud, surprising everyone except Yukari with her accepting of the order. Inside her mind Karasuba was shouting in rage and promising a thousand pain filled deaths to the boy, to the HUMAN, who dared to order her._

Flashback End

Karasuba chuckled at the notion of distrust from Miya. She rose to her feet and turned to meet Miya's glare straight. The amount of hate from her eyes did nothing to her and she knew that Miya knew that too.

"I don't exactly like you either number one. But as you can clearly see, I have little choice in the matter." Karasuba continued and walked inside the inn, not wanting to be around Miya.

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Inside a black space, two figures were staring each other. The one was a raven haired teenage boy who had a serious look on his face and the other was his exact copy. The only difference was that the other one had a white eye and hand.

"What is this place?" The white eyed one asked with a calm voice.

"My mind, or so I've been told." The other replied with equally calm voice, making the white one lift a brow.

"So you do have a backbone." He stated simply, wondering why they both were in this space and what was the purpose of the space.

"Let's just say that I'm getting real sick and tired of everyone else doing what they want with my body. I would like to have it back and if I need to go through you, I will." The other replied, eliciting a small laugh from the other one.

"You're just a human. What do you thin you can do against me?" The white eye asked with amusement. He knew how powerless humans were against his kind and this boy was even more pathetic than the others.

"Where do you think you are?" The other asked, still with a calm voice and the calmness of his voice made the white one wary.

"What do you mean?" He asked, confused how the place had anything to do with anything,

"For a superior being, you sure are stupid." The raven haired one said and smiled.

"For all my life, my mind has been my greatest weapon. And make no mistake, this is MY mind we are in. You are a part of ME, not the other way around." He continued and rose to his feet. The white one growled and rose to his feet.

"You are the animal in me, and I am not going to let you win." The raven haired one said and dashed towards the other.

"Fine, I'll get rid of you for once and for all!" The white eye shouted and dashed towards the other and they met with a clash in the middle. The raven haired one had to wakizashi that was pinning down the white eyed man's right hand that was now glowing white.

"Yes, after this one of us is going to disappear." The raven haired said and jumped backwards.

"After all, there can be only one me in my head." He continued and went to his ready stance, waiting for the other to attack.

"And it will be me" The white one said and dashed again.

***TsoO***TsoO***TsoO***TsoO***TsoO***TsoO***TsoO* **TsoO***TsoO***

There was a shocked silence in the conference room after they all had finished the folder. The outlines of the project were inhumane to say the least but if it worked, the plan would be a success. They turned their heads when they heard a cough from the head of the table.

"Now, to my great sadness I must confess that the project was anything but success. I have come to the conclusion that it was because of outward influences and the need to rush things. This is why the new plan is going to be like this." Minaka said and pointed a remote control to the wall, opening a big part of it and out came a screen.

"We will make the sekirei, who still are in holding and give them extensive treatment to make sure that they do not disobey us or their potential Ashikabi. We also need something to make sure that the Ashikabi's doesn't stray from the plan. For this I have authorized the release of the sekirei ship in Kamikura to whom ever wins the tournament." Minaka continued and pointed the screen that had the new plans key points on it.

"This is now a tournament. Brutal and unforgiving, this is fate at it's finest. I simply will release the sekirei out on the world and let chips fall where it may. The failure with Minato teached me that you can't fight against the gods of fate and they have something great in store for Minato, of that I'm sure." Minaka said with a mad gleam in his eyes. Takami listened while trembling in rage, she had known that Minaka was insane but the failure of his pet project had seemed to drive him to even deeper into madness.

"Make no mistake gentlemen. The sekirei are a warrior race who came here to find a new world. This is their chance of getting one and only time will tell if it there will be a paradise, hell or the end of the world. This is fate on a cosmic scale and we as humans are insignificant in comparison." Minaka continued in a heated way, completely forgetting that this was a meeting and not a place to make statements. Higa sweated a little about the man's loss of composure but the prize he had been shown was tantalizing. He would not pass that up, with the prize and the ship he could and would get, the world would be his. Takami was reforming her plan to get the others out of the tower. This was more serious than she suspected and if they pushed the date again, nobody could tell what would happen to Matsu, Benitsubasa and Haihane. Takami then stepped closer to Minaka and tapped his shoulder, interrupting his rant.

"What is it Takami-kun? Aren't you feeling overwhelmed by the destiny gods has granted for us?" Minaka asked with glee. Takami shaked her head and stared Minaka in the eyes.

"I always knew you were a crazy bastard but this is over the top. In any case, I need these outlines of the new plan if I am to be any use to you." She said, hoping that Minaka had forgotten her involvement in various times that stalled his plans. Minaka thought about it and gave the memory stick to Takami as she was supposed to see it anyway and maybe if she saw that Minato had a great role in this new plan, as the "evil" of the game, she would come around and help him without him needing to threaten her.

***TsoO***TsoO***TsoO***TsoO***TsoO***TsoO***TsoO* **TsoO***TsoO***

Yukari watched with Akitsu as Minato kept twitching in his bed. She was worried that something was wrong but Akitsu didn't let her go help him and after she found that hitting the woman in her arms didn't help, she just stood there and hoped that Minato was not in danger. Suddenly Minato rose from the bed and took a step. Before Yukari and Akitsu could react, he plummeted back down to the bed. Then just as quickly as it had started, it stopped. Yukari went closer to Minato and shaked him.

"Onii-chan?" Yukari asked with wavering voice while Akitsu hoped that Minato would wake up and still be himself. Minato groaned in response and slowly opened his eyes. 'Where? Maison Izumo?' He thought as he recognized his own room.

"Yukari?" Minato asked in relief. 'So i wasn't dreaming.' was his happy thought before he gripped his side in pain. Yukari instantly checked the bandages and saw a small trace of blood. She went to get new bandages but was stopped when Minato grabbed her hand.

"Yukari, I need you to go get Miya-neesan and everyone else. I have things that I must tell to everyone." Minato said and waited for Yukari to nod before letting her go. Akitsu stepped away from the door and let Yukari pass. She stared at the now awakened Minato and felt joy bubble in her chest.

"Minato-sama." Was the only word she said as she walked slowly closer to the bed where Minato was. Minato smiled at Akitsu, while feeling sad that he didn't remember the actual winging process. He was glad to know what it meant in the first place. If not for the sekirei in him, he wouldn't know anything but now he knew what Akitsu was and what it meant that she was his sekirei.

"Akitsu, please stop calling me -sama." He said weakly as he was still tired from the amount of blood he had lost and took Akitsus hand in his own.

"I don't think that you need to be so formal." He said with a reassuring smile that it was actually him, the one she had met in that dreadful room so long ago. Akitsu felt so much relief from the knowledge that this was her Minato, the one she had known and came to love. She crawled next to Minato and stayed in his arms like they never had left the small room in the tower and Akitsu fell asleep. Minato ran his hand through Akitsu's hair and thought to himself. 'Is this love? Or am I simply enjoying the company of a long-lost friend. He called this love but it isn't possible for humans to fall in love that fast.' He frowned as the thought it more and the sighed as the simplest of conclusion came to him. It didn't matter if it was love or not, all he knew was that he didn't want to leave her alone ever again. Not if he could help it. He was brought out of his musings when the door slammed open and a herd of women came in.

The two that caught his eyes were the first ones inside the room. There stood the purple haired woman he had thought that he would not see ever again. And right next to her was the bane of his existence inside the Inn that he had missed, much to his surprise. It was amazing how much thinking one could do when being trapped inside his own body.

"Minato. Is it really you Minato? Not some monster that Minaka created but real you?" Miya asked and took a shaky step towards the bed. She hadn't felt this much emotions since Takehito's death and it almost felt like her heart was about to burst out of her chest.

"Yeah, Miya-neesan. It really is me, the one and only Minato Sahashi that you dragged in with a wound to the stomach." Minato said, hoping for that particular memory to convince Miya. Few tears dropped from Miya's eyes before she went to Minato's side and slapped him in the cheek, hard. The rest of the women stood there with shock. Minato rubbed his cheek and only looked Miya who was furious and happy at the same time.

"You..you idiot! Do you have any idea how worried I was?!" She said with unbridled fury before she pulled Minato to a forceful hug.

"I..I missed you Minato. Please don't leave me anymore." Miya whispered to Minato while tightening her grip.

"I'll try but if you don't ease up, I'm going to leave sooner than you think." Minato said with a blue face. Miya noticed his face and quickly released her grip, blushing slightly about her open show of emotions. Kazehana came to the bed and looked over Minato with appraising eyes. Minato sweated about the intent stare from the woman, he had forgotten how she could make him feel like prime rib on sale. The Kazehana gave a smile to him and smothered him with her chest.

"So glad that you're back Minato. I've missed you, maybe you can make it up to me later?" Kazehana purred in Minato's ear, making Minato blush from the innuendo. Both of them paled at the amount of killer intent behind them and when Kazehana turned her head, she saw three women there with murder in their eyes. One set of eyes surprised her greatly as they belonged to the one sekirei she thought that would never be interested in a man, in that way at least. Minato gulped as he could almost make out the raging inferno of an aura around his sister, Miya and Karasuba about the closeness and actions of Kazehana. He gave a nervous laugh as he took Kazehana's from his neck. It was then he remembered that he had Akitsu in the same bed but she was still happily sleeping.

"You had something to talk about Minato?" Miya asked after she had calmed herself down, it was only natural that the brazen sekirei would welcome Minato back with such actions and she couldn't let her jealousy out in the open. She had only just admitted to herself that Minato was important to her, she wasn't ready to let everyone else know. Minato nodded and shifted his gaze to Yukari and Yukari gave a glare to Minato.

"Don't even try it Onii-chan. I am going to listen to this and if you try to stop me. i will feed you your feet." Yukari said with confidence, none of the women there would be able to stop her if she chose to punish her brother. Minato stared at Yukari while he kept thinking. Finally he sighed and asked if Yukari was sure, it wouldn't be nice to hear and to understand things, she would need to hear it from the beginning. Yukari did not budge and so Minato started to tell how his life had changed when he left for Tokyo together with Takami.

Yahan, Yukari and Akitsu, who had just awakened, listened in horror while Karasuba was disinterested about the whole thing. Every so often Yukari looked over at Miya and Kazehana and nodded in confirmation. Yukari was openly crying about the things Minato had been put through and she had anger growing inside her, anger aimed at two people. When Minato got to the most recent things, it was now turn for Akitsu and Yahan to talk as Minato had been out cold for most of the time. Miya felt her resentment towards Takami and for the M.B.I rise and Kazehana was in deeper shock for the new revelations about her past love's actions. Karasuba smiled and chuckled about the whole thing, getting looks of anger from every woman in the room but she shrugged them off.

"And now I need your help again Miya-neechan." Minato said as he finally got to the part where there was a thing living inside of him and it was openly fighting for the control of his body. Karasuba had felt her respect grow towards the boy when he had told about the fight with his otherself. She had to admit that Minato had grown as a man, the snot nosed boy who she had first met would not been able to win that fight.

"I see. I don't know how I can help you with this, this is out of my area of expertise." Miya said with sorrow in her voice. Minato patted her hand and smiled to her.

"I know, that's not why I'm asking your help." Minato said and stopped talking for a while as he knew that what he was about to say next, would shock everyone in the room.

"Then what is it?" Miya asked with a sense of dread. She had the feeling that it would not be anything pleasant. Kazehana stared intently at Minato, wondering how much he knew about the women gathered in the room. If even half of the things he had said was true and not a drug induced hallucination he might know a great deal.

"I need to get to Kamikura Island and get access to the ship." Minato said with an unheard amount of steel in his voice.

***TsoO***TsoO***TsoO***TsoO***TsoO***TsoO***TsoO* **TsoO***TsoO***

"How much longer?" Asked a very nervous Benitsubasa as the source of her nervousness was currently kneeling in front of an access panel.

"Not long now Benitsubasa-tan, I'm almost done." Came the answer from a certain sekirei who was elbow deep in wires. Haihane scratched her head and tried to follow the wires from the actual numerical pad that was laying on the floor.

"Benitsubasa-sama. How long are we going to stand here? I'm getting bored." Haihane said and shifted her feet. Benitsubasa growled in annoyance before turning her attention to the gray-haired woman.

"Not long now Haihane, just be patient and wait for glasses-chan here to finish." She said and glared at the mentioned woman who jumped a bit after being shocked again. Haihane looked at the wires again and came to a solution. With a smile on her face she brought the blades she wore in her hands down on the wires and cut them all, making both Matsu and Benitsubasa stare at her in shock.

"YOU IDIOT! What did you do?" Benitsubasa shouted and shaked Haihane roughly, Matsu was still on her knees and tried to make sense of the mess of wires that were now neatly cut from multiple points.

"I thought that it would help Benitsubasa-sama! I-I'm sorry!" Wailed Haihane, being greatly frightened at the sight of an angered Benitsubasa. Benitsubasa stopped the shaking and took a deep breath before asked the important question.

"Can you still make it inside?" Was the question she made to the sekirei of wisdom. Matsu studied the wires for a while and then her face brightened.

"Yes! Believe it or not, Haihane actually helped." Matsu said with glee as her hands started to work with blistering speed. 'I can't believe the answer was this simple. Must be because nobody else thought that it would be this simple' Matsu thought as she tied wires together.

"She did?" Benitsubasa asked with disbelief. She then turned her head back towards Haihane and stared her hard. 'Could she be a genius in the rough?' She thought and immediately trashed the idea as Haihane scratched her head with her claws again. 'No, she just got lucky.' Was the very tired thought of the pink haired sekirei.

"So I did good?" Haihane asked and smiled a little, hoping that Benitsubasa wasn't mad anymore.

"Yes, Haihane. You did good. When we get out, I'm going to by you an ice cream." Benitsubasa said with sarcasm and sighed in defeat as Haihane's face light up like a christmas tree at the mentioning of ice cream. Suddenly there was a swooshing of air and the door opened. The three sekirei peeked inside and saw a big room that was unlit with the exception of a pedestal in the middle that had one spotlight on them. 'Suspicious.' Thought two of the sekirei while the grey haired one waited the two others to come to a decision. Benitsubasa took a small step inside the room and nothing happened, making Matsu more comfortable to enter the room too. Haihane walked in behind them, making mental notes in her head to not touch anything, She didn't want Benitsubasa to be angry at her, it was frightening.

"Now let's just grab the Jinki and leave." Matsu said and made her way hastily towards the pedestal. The pedestal stood a good meter off from the ground and on top of it was a purple velvet pillow which had eight cone-shaped crystals in it. In each crystal was a number in bold red. Haihane swallowed, she was feeling like a treasure hunter in one of her favorite games and they were closing in on the final treasure.

"Eight Jinki, looks innocent doesn't it." Matsu asked no-one particular. Benitsubasa came over the pedestal and like Matsu, she was soon sucked in the sight of the crystals. They were looked like a piece of clear crystal and even if she didn't know what they did, Takami and Matsu had been terrified of their power and that was reason enough to get them out of Minaka's hands. Benitsubasa had started to think Minaka as an enemy as Takami had stated multiple times that he wasn't to be trusted.

"Let's just grab them and go." The pinkette said as her nervousness returned and her eyes started to dart all over the darkened room. She didn't trust the silence, especially after Haihane had cut those wires, it made things too easy and nothing was this easy. Not when it concerned the most guarded secret of the sekirei.

"Yeah, you're right Beni-tan." Matsu said, not noticing that she had shortened Benitsubasa's name. The person in question did but didn't want to start an argument over names in this place. 'This atmosphere is terrible, it's like a accident waiting to happen.' She thought and tightened her gloves in her hand. Haihane saw that and made sure that her claws were nice and tight in her hands too. 'Huh? Where did that blood come from?' She wondered at the blood on the tips.

"Haihane, stop staring at your hands and keep a look out will ya?" Benitsubasa said after she saw Haihane standing there wondering about her hands. Haihane instantly pushed the thought from her mind and went back to the door as Matsu took one of the Jinki after she had made sure that there was no nasty surprise waiting in the pedestal.

"Got one!" She said with a happy voice which soon changed for terror.

"We need to leave now! And I mean now!" She shouted and started running. Benitsubasa didn't fall far behind and they both pulled Haihane from the hands when they reached the door.

"What happened?" Benitsubasa asked as they ran towards the fire-escape. They had agreed to avoid the elevators as it was too easy to get trapped inside if they were caught.

"There..*huff* was an... *huff* laser grid. *huff* It came on... *huff* after I.. *huff* took the.. *huff* one Jinki. *huff*" Matsu said while breathing heavily. 'This really isn't suited for me. I'm not athletic!' She screamed in her head but did her best to keep the pace. Benitsubasa paled as she thought the worst case scenario, the three of them agains everyone else in the tower. They got in the fire-escape just in time to hear troops running from the opposite end of the corridor. Haihane was confused as why they were running but the sudden cheer from the two other's stopped that train of thought.

"So, who won the race then?" She asked and wondered why the two stared at her in shock. They didn't believe that Haihane hadn't paid any attention to anything they were doing, apparently she was here because Benitsubasa was here.

"You did. C'mon let's go." Benitsubasa said and pulled Haihane along the stairs from her bandages. Matsu shaked her head at the obliviousness of Haihane and started walking upwards. She stopped almost immediately and went back down.

"What are you doing Glasses?" Benitsubasa asked when she spotted Matsu going back down.

"Giving us some breathing room." She replied as she tinkered with the numpad next to the fire-escape door. The pinkette nodded, not wanting to distract Matsu further and waited on the next platform with Haihane. It didn't take long for her to join the others and they quickly made way to Takamis office. They were greeted by an annoyed woman who stared at them darkly.

"What took you so long?" She asked. This was supposed to be a quick thing and they had wasted the better part of three hours on it. Haihane shrugged her shoulders and Benitsubasa stared at the floor. Matsu explained and calmed Takami down. Fortunately, they didn't need to stay in Takami's office for long as she had already gathered everything they needed. A fact she kept saying to the three sekirei, much to their discomfort.

"Fresh air. Smells so good." Haihane said aloud when they finally reached the open yard of the tower. Matsu and Benitsubasa grinned at their awesome stealth skills while Takami was wondering was it all really that easy.

"Now what are you ladies doing out on a night like this?" Came a voice from the darkness which froze the four women in place. They slowly turned around and only Takami gasped.

"You!" She said while getting confused looks from the others. Benitsubasa didn't care who it was. Takami's reaction was all she needed to get ready for a fight and she shoved her elbow to Haihane's side, making her realize that she was needed to get ready too.

* * *

And here is another chapter for this one too! And no. In the next chapter there will be very little of fighting, most of it will be resting and planning out, trying to find new friends and such. I hope that I didn't screw up the meeting of Minato and the others, I thought that it went well. And yes, I know there is a lot of talking in this but it couldn't be helped. The whole thing with Minaka went in revision as one of you correctly guessed. (You know yourself of whom I'm talking about) And I'm sorry that Haihane became ditsy, for some reason that's how it turned out but I thought it was okay and worked well in the way I have portrayed those three together. And I'm also sorry for this being shorter. I was feeling lazy but I tried my best to bring you guys an update. I feel so honored that so many of you have favorited and followed this. Awesome!

**Digitize27:** It was because of what Iliana did to Minato. She is a part of the ship and the ship has tools for treating almost anything, at least in my opinion. I am very much aware that my knowledge in gene therapy is nonexistent but compared to the sekirei as a race, humanity is infentile. And he was in the crypt hiding from M.B.I and explaining his plan to Yahan and Akitsu. I will go over the scene once more and try to write it out more clearly. But I do thank you on your honest opinion and review, it is always appreciated n_n Hopefully the quality is to your liking this time around. I tried to fix things with the last chapter but I know my limits and that's why I need people like you who push me to try and overcome them.

**Guardian of the Sacred Emerald Flames:** I agree that the Karasuba thing will divide people. Which is why I pushed it off as much as I could but I felt that I needed to get to it soon and this provided the perfect opportunity. This chapter is R&R and most likely most of the next chapter will be too. As for the wingings, Akitsu was the only one that had a significant influence on Minato. Yahan was winged out of necessity and agreement while for Karasuba it was a means of establishing dominance, which then horribly backfired. I haven't really planned out in full detail as what the ramifications of that winging will be for the group and for the interaction between Karasuba and Minato.

**AnoyumusGuy:** Yes, the title means also that. When I started writing this, I was playing around with the idea of having Minato wing them both but decided against it as Minato and Miya will have another kind of relationship. (Don't anyone get excited just yet, although I am open for wild guesses xD)

And for all else who reviewed, thank you for your support. It pleases me greatly to know that people like my story ^^ And for the guest who said that Izumi is Higa's first name, even if that is the fact on the manga and anime (can't remember and too lazy to check right now) I am going with the western style of writing names. Minato is Minato Sahashi and Higa is Higa Izumi, thus making Higa the first name. Hope this clarifies things. As always, read and review n_n

-DraXXter-


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